- Australian and UK representatives visit Rolls-Royce nuclear
reactor manufacturing site.
- Australian industry experts embedded with UK defence
companies to progress attack submarine collaboration.
- Significant step in the AUKUS programme that is key to
upholding security in the Indo-Pacific.
UK Defence Secretary, , and Australian Deputy Prime
Minister and Defence Minister, Richard Marles, visited
Rolls-Royce’s nuclear reactor manufacturing site in Derby today
to meet the first group of Australian nationals training within
UK industry to understand how the next generation of
conventionally-armed nuclear-powered submarines are being
constructed. Rolls-Royce will be the supplier of all the nuclear
propulsion plants for the UK and Australian submarines.
The Ministers saw the first nuclear propulsion plant components
being fabricated for the UK’s SSN-AUKUS programme, representing
one of the first stages of building the submarines which will
help protect our collective and economic security.
This follows an injection of £4 billion 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.
Defence Secretary, said:
A project like this can only succeed with the great work that’s
being done across British Industry.
The work at Rolls-Royce in Derby is a great example of what we
can achieve when we collaborate and work alongside our allies. 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.
The partnership will not only help uphold stability in the
Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions, but also demonstrate the
world-class trademark that embodies British Industry.
As part of the collaboration programme, over the next seven weeks
13 Australian nationals will embark on training and
familiarisation activity across the UK. 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.
There will be significant new opportunities for small, medium and
large enterprise across all AUKUS partners. The cooperation will
result in benefits to industrial capability across all three
nations with enhanced resilience of trilateral supply
chains.
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.
AUKUS cooperation will result in benefits to industrial
capability across all three nations with enhanced resilience of
trilateral supply chains. It will foster a deeper integration of
security and defence-related science.
