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Defence Nuclear Enterprise 2026 Annual Update to Parliament

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (The Right Hon Wes Streeting) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

I am today placing in the Library of the House the Defence Nuclear Enterprise 2026 Annual Update to Parliament.

Since its inception, the United Kingdom has used its nuclear deterrent every day. It remains as relevant today as it was then. Since taking office in 2024, this Government has made clear our commitment to maintaining the UK’s nuclear deterrent, highlighted through our triple lock. This guarantees the building of four Dreadnought nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness, that we will maintain our Continuous At-Sea Deterrent, and the delivery of all future upgrades to ensure its safety and effectiveness. This commitment is even more critical today than it was then and was reinforced through the Strategic Defence Review and the Defence Investment Plan, which outlined this government’s plan to invest £63 billion into the UK’s deterrent over the next four years, representing more than a £20 billion increase on the previous four.

Over the past 12 months the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) has continued to drive delivery of our programmes that are of critical importance to the security of the UK and that of our Allies.

In September 2025 we marked major milestones with the steel cut for Dreadnought Boat 4, marking the start of its construction, and the commissioning of HMS Agamemnon into the Royal Navy. In July 2026, the Prime Minister announced an £8.4 billion investment in industry to begin Delivery Phase 4 of the Dreadnought build programme, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and delivering growth in every postcode. We are transforming infrastructure across our locations, including at Rolls-Royce Submarines Ltd’s Raynesway facility and BAE Systems’ Barrow shipyard, to support a continuous production rate of one submarine every 18 months, as announced in the Spending Review. The warhead programme, supported by £15 billion of investment over this Parliament, continues to progress as we develop our replacement warhead, Astraea.

Delivering value for money across our programmes is an absolute priority, and we are driving productivity across the enterprise and breaking down barriers to delivery. This includes working with partners across government to deliver the recommendations of the Fingleton Review of nuclear regulation which identified significant opportunities to streamline regulation, speeding the delivery of nuclear projects. The government has accepted the review in full and committed to implementation by the end of 2027.

In June, the government announced that it has agreed to seek to establish a new House of Commons-only Committee, appointed by the Prime Minister, to conduct scrutiny of DNE expenditure and programmes. As recommended in the SDR, and by the Public Accounts Committee, this will enhance our ability to demonstrate to Parliament how the DNE is delivering value for money for the taxpayer.

I look forward to driving this work over the next year, working together in the face of ever-evolving uncertainty and conflict across the globe.