Beyond Dread: SDR Urges Government To Start Planning Nuclear Deterrent Into 2060s

The Dreadnought class of ballistic missile nuclear submarines will form the backbone of Britain’s nuclear deterrent when they come into service in the 2030s — but the Government already needs to start thinking about what will replace them.

According to the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) just published by the U.K. Government, to avoid repeating costly errors made by past administrations, work needs to start now on planning the replacements of the yet-to-be-commissioned nuclear submarines, which will take over from the Vanguard-class boats to provide Britain’s Continuous At-Sea Deterrent (CASD).

Among the 62 recommendations in the 144-page SDR report, the full text of which was released yesterday (Monday) by the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD), it stated: “To avoid the costs of the past, the Government must commit to not extending the life of the Dreadnought class submarines beyond their intended end-of-service dates from the mid-2050s.

“It should start to define the requirement for the post-Dreadnought nuclear deterrent within this Parliament.”

The SDR also calls on the Government to “confirm the intended numbers of SSN attack submarines, including the next-generation attack submarines under the AUKUS partnership, as soon as possible to provide the necessary assumptions for the required build capacity and tempo.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Defence Secretary John Healey both yesterday stated the Government planned to build “up to 12” nuclear-powered, conventionally armed attack submarines, at a rate of one every 18 months.

The new Dreadnought-class submarine programme is scheduled to deliver its first boat into service in the early 2030s. Some media reports have suggested the first-in-class, HMS Dreadnought, may be ready to enter service as early as the end of 2032.

The 150-metre-plus Dreadnought-class submarines will be the largest built for the Royal Navy to date, displacing more than 17,000 tonnes. Each boat will have more than 26 miles of pipework and in excess of 200 miles of cabling supplying more than 12,000 separate electrical systems.

Four submarines are being built by BAE systems and subcontractors at a combined cost of at least £31 billion. Construction work has already begun on Valiant and Warspite; the fourth boat, King George VI, will follow later. They will be propelled by nuclear reactors supplied by Rolls-Royce, and will carry the Trident II ballistic missiles; each projectile has up to eight nuclear warheads.

The SDR also references the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE’s) work on developing a replacement U.K. sovereign warhead: Astraea, named after the ancient Greek goddess of justice. The PM and Defence Secretary both yesterday stated the Government plans to spend £15 billion investing in this programme during this Parliament.

• You can read the full SDR document via the U.K. MoD website