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Written question asked by Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative) on Tuesday, 19 May 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 May 2026. It was answered by Luke Pollard (Labour) on Tuesday, 26 May 2026 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.


Trident Submarines: Shipbuilding

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his foreword in his Department's publication entitled The Strategic Defence Review 2025: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, updated on 8 July 2025, when he expects the next submarine to be produced; and whether this will be in line with the schedule of continuous submarine production producing a submarine every 18 months.

Answer

On current plans, construction of SSN-AUKUS submarines will start in the late 2020s, with the aim to deliver the first UK submarines into service in the late 2030s.

To meet this demand we are, as announced in the Spending Review, investing more than £6 billion to transform submarine-building infrastructure at Barrow and Raynesway and the supply chain. This will enable an 18-month submarine production rate and a 12-month nuclear reactor production rate, which in turn will allow us to grow to a class size of up to 12 SSN-AUKUS submarines as well as to deliver on our commitments to Australia under the AUKUS partnership.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
2965
Session
2026-27
Related items
Deposited Paper DEP2025-0341
Monday, 2 June 2025
Deposited papers
House of Commons
Subjects
Trident submarines Shipbuilding
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk