---
title: "Rolls-Royce wins $11bn UK nuclear submarine contract"
description: "Britain said on Friday it had awarded Rolls-Royce RR.L a 9 billion pound ($11 billion) contract to design, make and provide support services to nuclear reactors that power its fleet of submarines."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "ROLLS ROYCE SUB DEAL"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-24-rolls-royce-wins-11bn-uk-nuclear-submarine-contract/"
published: "2025-01-24T05:41:10"
updated: "2025-01-24T05:41:12"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 158
---

# Rolls-Royce wins $11bn UK nuclear submarine contract

> Britain said on Friday it had awarded Rolls-Royce RR.L a 9 billion pound ($11 billion) contract to design, make and provide support services to nuclear reactors that power its fleet of submarines.

By Reuters · Published 24 January 2025, 07:41 SAST · Updated 24 January 2025, 07:41 SAST

## Key points
- In a bid to keep the seas safe and the job market buoyant, the UK has inked an eight-year deal to bolster its nuclear submarine fleet, promising 1,000 new jobs while ensuring that at least one of its submarines is always lurking beneath the waves, ready to deter any unwelcome visitors.
- The UK secures an eight-year deal to enhance the Royal Navy's nuclear deterrent and bolster the AUKUS pact with the US and Australia.
- The Unity contract streamlines previous agreements, focusing on cost-efficient production for the Dreadnought class submarines.
- Defence Secretary John Healey emphasizes the deal's potential to boost British business and national security.
- The contract is projected to create 1,000 new jobs and protect an additional 4,000 positions in the UK.

## Content

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The eight-year deal will strengthen the Royal Navy's continuous at-sea deterrent - under which at least one nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine patrols the seas at all times - while also boosting the AUKUS defence pact with the United States and Australia, Britain's ministry of defence said.

The new contract, called Unity, streamlines previous ones, incentivises cost-efficient production, and would support work on the Dreadnought class of nuclear submarines, it added.

"This investment in Britain's defence will deliver a long-term boost to British business, jobs and national security," Defence Secretary John Healey said in a statement.

"This deal ... will support high-skilled UK jobs who equip the thousands of submariners that keep us all safe," Healey added, ahead of a visit to Rolls-Royce's nuclear reactor production facility in Derby, central England.

The Unity contract is expected to create 1,000 jobs and safeguard 4,000 others, the government said.

(Reporting by Sachin RavikumarEditing by Mark Potter)