BAE Systems to get 300m submarine yard upgrade

The eight-year programme of work announced on Thursday will involve construction of new buildings and facilities, as well as refurbishing current equipment ready to begin work on Successor.

It will have a major impact on the Barrow yard, which has been building submarines for more than a century.

Alan Dunn, operations director of BAEs submarines unit: said: This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for BAE. There has been no work on this scale at Barrow in more than 25 years and we will change the skyline and the landscape of the town."

The new funding for Barrow will allow the construction of larger missile submarines there, said Mr Hammond.

By spending the money now, the UKs submarine requirements could be delivered more efficiently and cost-effectively, as well as ushering in a new stance on defence procurement.

Frankly, in the MoD we are done with the days of letting people cut steel first and design the boats or ships, or whatever, afterwards, said Mr Hammond. If we are going to hold our contractors properly to account to deliver on time and on budget, in fairness to them, we have got to tell them exactly what it is we want before they start building it.

In the past, Im afraid there has been a tendency to build first and design later, so it makes absolute sense to get the design completed before we sign the contracts on the Successor class.

"This investment needs to be made now to allow us to build the Successor class to the programme and timetable set out.

He hailed the engineers building the Astute-class submarines recognised to be the most advanced in the world and the history of shipbuilding at Barrow.

This site has a long and illustrious history of submarine design and construction, said Mr Hammond. No one can rival the history, expertise and track record of this site in this highly specialised field and the Astute class surpasses anything that has gone before.

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BAE Systems to get 300m submarine yard upgrade