UK awards BAE £4bn contract for AUKUS submarine program

MANCHESTER, England, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Britain has awarded BAE Systems (BAES.L) a 4 billion pound ($4.9 billion) contract as part of the AUKUS program with Australia and the United States to build attack submarines, Defense Minister Grant Shapps and the company said on Sunday.

The United States, Australia and Great Britain revealed details of the VICTIM plans to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines from the early 2030s to help counter China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region.

Britain, which will also operate the submarines, is directing its foreign and defense policy toward the Indo-Pacific and is also seeking trade deals with fast-growing economies there after leaving the European Union.

BAE Systems, which has said AUKUS will be “significant” for the company, said in a statement that the Ministry of Defense had granted it funding to cover development work until 2028, allowing it to begin detailed design work on the aircraft. submarines.

“This multi-billion pound investment in the AUKUS submarine program will help deliver the long-term hunter-killer submarine capabilities the UK needs,” Shapps said in the statement.

The contract will secure funding for infrastructure work at BAE Systems’ site in Barrow-in-Furness, north-west England, and the company said it would help fund 5,000 jobs.

BAE Systems said manufacturing of the submarines would begin towards the end of the decade, with the first SSN-AUKUS vessel to be delivered in the late 2030s.

“This funding reinforces the Government’s support for our UK submarine business and allows us to mature the design and invest in critical skills and infrastructure to support our long-term national security,” said BAE Systems chief executive Charles Woodburn. .

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