Silent Might: Dreadnought, Barrow and UK's submarine supply chain

On February 9^th 2023, the first steel for HMS Warspite was cut at BAE Systems’ shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The event coincided with a notional midway point in the build of Warspite’s sister vessel, Dreadnought, the lead submarine in the programme to maintain the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent. As the third of four new nuclear subs that will make up the Dreadnought Class, Warspite’s initiation came seven years after Dreadnought’s first steel in 2016, and a ballpark, seven-ish years from when Dreadnought will enter service in the ‘early 2030s’. Warspite herself is unlikely to see service until around 2040.

It’s the type of mind-boggling project timeline rarely seen outside of the defence industry, replete with matching price tag. Latest estimates for the cost of the Dreadnought programme are £31bn, alongside a £10bn contingency fund. The two QE class aircraft carriers, by comparison, came in at a paltry £7.6bn for the pair. Like the carriers, Dreadnought represents an enormous feat of homegrown UK engineering. It is one of the most complex build projects the UK has ever undertaken – estimated to account for more than 150 million work hours over the course of the design and construction of the four submarines: Dreadnought, Valiant, Warspite and King George VI.