UK Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, has joined his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, for a tour of Rolls-Royce’s nuclear reactor manufacturing facility in Derby. While there, the two ministers met the first group of Australian nationals training within UK industry in preparation for the SSN-AUKUS initiative.
Rolls-Royce will be the supplier of all nuclear propulsion plants for the UK and Australian submarines. The Ministers saw the first nuclear propulsion plant components being fabricated for the SSN-AUKUS programme, representing one of the first stages of building the submarines. The tour follows an injection of £4Bn of UK funding to British businesses, including Rolls-Royce, for the development of the UK’s SSN-AUKUS submarines announced earlier this year.
The work will support Rolls-Royce in doubling the size of the Derby site and creating thousands of jobs in the UK in the coming years, backing the UK’s current and future submarine programmes.
“The work at Rolls-Royce in Derby is a great example of what we can achieve when we collaborate and work alongside our allies,” said Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps. “It is inspiring to see our personnel on the ground working side by side with the Australians to deliver the most advanced submarines for our navies.“
As part of the collaboration, 13 Australian nationals will embark on training and familiarisation activity across the UK over the next seven weeks. The cohort will open the door for a generation of Australians to work alongside British industry, and help deliver the next generation of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines.
The Australian personnel will visit some of the UK’s most distinguished submarine building and sustainment experts from BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, and Babcock. They will have the opportunity to observe how the UK develops and maintains some of the most advanced submarine technology in the world to help build their expertise and accelerate the training required to operate a nuclear-powered submarine fleet.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles said: “Australia is working closely with the UK and the US to progressively develop the skills, knowledge and expertise to build, operate, and maintain conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines. These Australian industry placements provide us with an invaluable opportunity to learn from our experienced partners in the UK, and to better understand the functions and scope of the work.”
The AUKUS submarines will be the largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy and will help continue global stability for decades to come.
Image courtesy of Cpl Tim Hammond.
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Post written by: Matt Brown
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