The British Government announced on Sunday that it had signed contracts worth 4 billion pounds (4.6 billion euros) with several groups, including BAE Systems, to finance a new phase of the SSN-AUKUS next-generation attack submarine project.
These contracts, in which the British groups Rolls-Royce and Babcock also participate, are part of the Aukus military alliance concluded between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom to thwart Chinese ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The biggest, most powerful and most advanced”
Last March, American, British and Australian leaders unveiled the launch of this joint nuclear-powered submarine program (but without nuclear weapons on board). The British Prime Minister then praised “the most important multilateral defense agreement in generations.”
In a separate statement, BAE Systems said the future SSN-Aukus “will be the largest, most powerful and most advanced submarine” supplied to the Royal Navy, and is intended to “replace the Astute.”
For the British defense group, this state investment “will cover development work until 2028” and the “employment of more than 5,000 people” at its Barrow-in-Furness site (northern England).
The first examples of this submarine will be delivered in the late 2030s. Nuclear-powered submarines are difficult to detect, can travel long distances for long periods of time, and can carry sophisticated cruise missiles.
Source: BFM TV
