Rolls-Royce lands £60m nuclear sub contract

A £60m nuclear submarine contract awarded by the Ministry of Defence is set to secure the jobs of 700 people at Rolls-Royce’s Derby plant.

The MoD has said it is spending £960m on the second phase of construction for the UK’s four nuclear-armed Dreadnought submarines. £900m will got to BAE Systems, with the remaining £60m to Rolls-Royce Defence, which will further the design and manufacture of the nuclear propulsion power plant.

Visiting Derby, Defence Minister Guto Bebb said: “The Dreadnought Programme is a true national endeavour, furthering our world-class nuclear capability. This announcement includes a £60m contract for Rolls-Royce, supporting over 700 jobs here in Derby as the factory continues to make the reactors that will power our state-of-the-art Dreadnought subs into the 2060s.

“I’d like to thank everyone at Rolls-Royce in Derby for their contribution to maintaining our Continuous at Sea Deterrent, protecting us against the most serious threats to our way of life, every hour of every day.”

Steve Dearden, president-submarines for Rolls-Royce said: “The Dreadnought class programme is a vital, national endeavour and we are immensely proud of the role that we play as custodian of the naval nuclear propulsion capability in the UK. Dreadnought will be powered by the next generation Naval Pressurised Water Reactor technology, which will be simpler, require 30% less maintenance and have reduced in-service costs. The delivery phase II announcement allows us to move from design through to manufacture and the delivery of major components that are essential for the submarine build timeline.”