UK opens new submarine centre to support nuclear deterrent vessels

The UK Government, one of the three partners in the AUKUS submarine programme, has opened a new new submarine facility in Bristol.

The Submarine Availability Support Hub (SASH), run by Babcock, is intended to improve submarine delivery, boost UK engineering capabilities and help maintain the nation’s continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent.

That deterrent is currently delivered by the Vanguard class of submarines, and will eventually be delivered through their replacement class, the Deadnoughts.

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The SASH is also an attempt by the UK’s still relatively new government to push forward with its ‘Plan for Change’ scheme. The plan conflates advancing defence goals with boosting job numbers, and bringing several levels of industry into the process of defence, including many small and medium level enterprises which have had no access to defence contracts previously.

The launch of the SASH follows the government’s reveal of its Defence Industrial Strategy, and is expected to support 100 new jobs in Bristol.

In particular, it is expected to allow the Defence Nuclear Enterprise – a group of organisations that operate the UK’s nuclear deterrent – to work with the likes of Babcock to improve submarine availability and delivery.

That result, the government said, will come from using cutting-edge digital and learning tools, and bringing technical and engineering expertise together in a collaborative space.

The UK government has been working to improve the smoothness of the country’s submarine delivery and operation processes since it was elected last year.

In November 2024, Rolls-Royce Submarine opened a new office in Glasgow to help expedite the delivery of the Dreadnought and AUKUS submarine programmes. While Rolls-Royce will run the office, the UK MoD footed the bill, creating 120 new jobs.

Similarly, the government just spent £9 million (US$11 million) on an eight-year continuation contract with Rolls-Royce Submarines to continue providing the power plant and maintenance for the nuclear deterrent submarines.

Related Programmes in Defence Insight

Dreadnought Class (Successor Programme) (1-4) [UK]

Related Equipment in Defence Insight

Vanguard Class

Dreadnought Class

AUKUS SSN