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The launch of HMS Astute and the renewal of Britain’s strategic nuclear deterrent have focused attention on the UK Submarine Industrial Base. Consistent with the Defence Industrial Strategy, the industrial base is in the process of re-structuring to provide an affordable, sustainable defence capability.

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This Whitehall Report seeks to explore some of the challenges facing the organizations responsible for the design, build, support and disposal of Britain's nuclear powered submarines, the most complex weapons platform in the UK armed forces.

This report begins with an analysis of the role and importance of submarines in UK defence policy. Subsequently, the report analyzes Ministry of Defence and industry from a comprehensive and forward-looking perspective, taking into account the operational requirements for future submarine classes, industrial structure, developments in contracting strategy and questions of emerging technology.

The Author

Gavin Ireland was, for a seven-month secondment during which this report was written, a Researcher in the Military Sciences Department, RUSI. He was seconded to RUSI from BAE Systems Submarine Solutions, where he is on the graduate development scheme. During his time at RUSI, he also co-authored RUSI’s Whitehall Report, ‘The United Kingdom’s Independent Strategic Nuclear Deterrent’, and contributed articles to RUSI Defence Systems and the RUSI Newsbrief.

He holds an MA (Hons) in International Relations from the University of St Andrews and an MA in Defence and Security Analysis from the Centre for Defence and International Security Studies at Lancaster University where he wrote his postgraduate dissertation on the role of the nuclear scientific complex in shaping emerging US nuclear weapons policy. His particular areas of interest are in the maintenance of the UK defence industrial base, the role of technology in shaping operations and the transfer of technology and working practices between defence and the motorsport industry.

Further information

RUSI Maritime Studies Programme

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