Written question asked by Mike Wood (Conservative) on Thursday, 4 September 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 September 2025. It was answered by Luke Pollard (Labour) on Monday, 15 September 2025 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Submarines: Nuclear Weapons

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to p.6 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, if he will publish a breakdown of the associated costs for the sovereign warhead programme over this Parliament; and whether he expects that programme to be completed during this Parliament.

Answer: The £15 billion to be invested in this Parliament covers a range of programmes across the nuclear warhead portfolio to support the sovereign warhead. That investment includes sustaining our current Mk4A warhead; developing Astraea, our sovereign replacement warhead programme; and modernising the associated infrastructure, which will be completed beyond the current Parliament. Updates to Parliament will be provided in the Defence Nuclear Enterprise annual report.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 75029
Session: 2024-26
Related items: Deposited Paper DEP2025-0341
Monday, 2 June 2025
Deposited papers
House of Commons
Subjects: Costs Nuclear weapons Submarines
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk