Rolls Royce Wins $1Bn Contract for Submarines from UK MoD

The MoD has awarded Rolls Royce a £1.1 billion contract to produce new reactor cores for the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines and upgrade the plant where they will be built. The nuclear reactor cores will be used to power the seventh and final Astute Class submarine and the first of the Royal Navy’s next generation of nuclear deterrent submarines, known as the Successor Class. The investment – which secures 300 jobs at Rolls Royce - will also fund an eleven-year refurbishment of Rolls Royce’s plant at Raynesway in Derby, extending its operating lifetime by more than 40 years. The contract will see construction of new buildings that will replace existing facilities that have reached the end of their useful life. Replacing the existing infrastructure with state of the art nuclear reactor core production facilities will cost around £500m. A further £600m will be spent on producing new reactor cores for the Astute and Successor Class submarines. Announcing the contract, Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, said: “Having balanced the MoD’s books we can now invest in vital strategic capabilities to meet the present and future defence needs of the UK. “This contract will secure hundreds of highly-skilled jobs for UK industry, while retaining our sovereign nuclear capability.