Prime Minister Andy Burnham has placed the renewal of the UK's Trident nuclear deterrent at the heart of his government's defence and economic agenda, announcing a new £8.4 billion phase of contracts for the Dreadnought nuclear submarine programme . The package includes a £5.9 billion contract awarded to BAE Systems to advance construction of all four next-generation submarines, which will replace the Royal Navy's ageing Vanguard-class fleet from the early 2030s .

BAE Systems Wins £5.9 Billion Submarine Contract

The British defence giant BAE Systems has been awarded a £5.9 billion ($7.8 billion) contract by the UK government to continue developing the country's next generation of nuclear ballistic missile submarines under the Dreadnought programme . The contract, announced on July 29, 2026, focuses on the next phase of the Dreadnought programme—a project to build four new submarines to replace the Vanguard-class vessels currently serving the UK's sea-based nuclear deterrence mission .

Charles Woodburn, BAE Systems Chief Executive, said: "The Dreadnought programme is of vital strategic importance to the UK, underpinning the security of our nation and our allies for decades to come. Its delivery depends on the strength of our national industrial base, with thousands of skilled workers right across the country playing their part in the mission to deliver this critical capability to the Royal Navy" .

Work on the first-of-class submarine, HMS Dreadnought, continues at BAE Systems' shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, ready for delivery to the Royal Navy in the early 2030s . The contract also covers continued progress on the build of boat two, HMS Valiant, and fabrication and outfitting of the remaining two boats, HMS Warspite and King George VI .

The £8.4 Billion Package: A Fourth Phase of Investment

The BAE Systems contract forms part of a wider £8.4 billion package approved by parliament for the Ministry of Defence . The funding, which marks the fourth major production phase of the Dreadnought programme, will carry the project through to key milestones early next decade :

• Completion of HMS Dreadnought's sea trials and entry into service

• Completion of HMS Valiant through to beginning sea trials

• Ongoing work to complete boats 3 and 4, HMS Warspite and King George VI 

The spending was already planned and included in the Defence Investment Plan published in the final days of Sir Keir Starmer's government, which set out £63.6 billion over the next four years for the Defence Nuclear Enterprise .

Protecting Britain and Boosting Jobs

Speaking ahead of his visit to Barrow-in-Furness, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: "Security is not only about what we build, it is about who builds it, and who benefits from it" .

"The submarines produced in Barrow will protect Britain for decades to come, and the 47,000 jobs and apprenticeships will change lives both in this town and in dozens of places like it," he added .

The government says the spending on the UK's nuclear defence currently supports around 47,000 British jobs, and is forecast to rise to 65,000 by 2030, including 22,000 apprenticeships by 2035 . The Defence Nuclear Enterprise also supports over 6,000 UK companies in the supply chain . BAE Systems spent £1.3 billion through the Dreadnought supply chain during its last financial year, taking total spending to £8.9 billion across more than 1,500 UK suppliers .

The Dreadnought Class: A New Era of Nuclear Deterrence

The Dreadnought-class submarines will replace the UK's four Vanguard-class vessels that have been in operation since 1992, carrying Trident missiles to provide a nuclear deterrent . The Vanguard submarines are due to be retired in the 2030s, with the Dreadnoughts entering service at the same time .

Measuring around 153 metres in length and displacing approximately 17,200 tonnes, the Dreadnought-class will be the largest submarines ever built for the Royal Navy . They will be powered by the PWR3 nuclear reactor, designed to operate for decades without reactor refuelling . Each submarine will be equipped with 12 launch tubes for Trident II D5 SLBMs, reduced from the Vanguard class's 16 tubes but capable of carrying the UK's full operational nuclear deterrent under current policy .

The project has taken 20 years to get to this stage and was first announced in 2006 by the then Labour Prime Minister, Tony Blair. A decade later, in 2016, MPs formally approved building the new submarines . The Dreadnought programme is being delivered in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence's Defence Nuclear Enterprise, the partnership of organisations that operate, maintain, renew and sustain the UK's nuclear deterrent .

Defence Spending Pressures and Political Debate

While announcing the submarine investment, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting refused to confirm whether the prime minister would commit to spending 3% of GDP on defence . He said he was "100% confident the prime minister and the chancellor will give us what we need" but stressed that "before we set out specific spending commitments we will also set out how we pay for them at the same time" .

Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge welcomed progress on the submarine programme but accused Burnham of "failing to commit" to fully funding defence . Reform UK's Danny Kruger dismissed Burnham's announcement as a "rehashed spending plan" that did "nothing to address the crisis in the UK's nuclear programme" .

Green Party Westminster leader Ellie Chowns questioned the decision to spend billions on "weapons that must never be used," saying ministers "should not pretend that the best way to create employment is by funnelling ever-increasing sums into the nuclear weapons programme" .

The National Industrial Strategy

Burnham, who has made "reindustrialised Britain" a central theme of his leadership, intends to emphasise that defence spending on projects such as the Dreadnought-class boats is a case study of taxpayer investment revitalising communities around the UK . The prime minister, who voted to build the new submarines in 2016 when the Labour party split over the issue, said there would be "more social value weighting in public contracts" with a particular focus on firms offering 45-day work placements .

The north of England remains central to the Defence Nuclear Enterprise, which supports around 15,000 jobs and more than 1,000 supply chain companies, and spent £3.4 billion in the region in the last financial year .