Amongst the achievements since 2018, the first three submarines; Dreadnought, Valiant and Warspite are in construction – with a huge amount of progress being made.
All of the Alliance partners are working diligently on the significant scope of the programme's Delivery Phase 3; to help achieve the shared ambition to deliver the first Dreadnought boat to the Royal Navy – ready for patrol in the early 2030s.
Alex McMillan, Dreadnought Alliance Managing Director, said: "The 6th Anniversary is another milestone to acknowledge on the Programme. It gives me huge pride to be part of such a strategically important programme and I have been amazed by the knowledge and effort that each and every one of our colleagues brings to the task. I am also acutely aware of the frequent sacrifices they make. I have been witness to many great examples of achievement by so many dedicated people. "I am extremely grateful to all of our Dreadnought Alliance colleagues for working so hard, tirelessly and with such commitment."
One of the most recent milestones for the Dreadnought Programme was the major move of the largest segment or ‘mega unit’ of HMS Dreadnought to be completed so far.
At over 20m, it is the longest submarine unit to move by road since the fore-end mega-unit moved to the Devonshire Dock Hall (DDH) for the final Vanguard boat in the mid-1990s.
The unit moved through the streets of Barrow-in-Furness from BAE Systems’ fabrication facility to the cavernous DDH, originally home to its predecessor, the Vanguard Class. The DDH has dominated the skyline of the Cumbrian town for decades.
All four Dreadnought Class submarines will be assembled under cover in the dock hall – 260 metres long, 58 metres wide and 51 metres high, making it almost large enough to accommodate the Titanic.
Dreadnought is due to enter service in the early 2030s while the Vanguard Class boats begin retiring after four decades carrying out Operation Relentless, the UK’s strategic deterrence mission.
The challenge of a generation
The Dreadnought Class will be one of the most complex machines ever built and it will operate in one of the most hostile environments on the planet.
As the largest Class of submarine ever built for the Royal Navy, each will boast 26.4 miles of pipework and more than 20,000 cables stretching 215 miles – further than traveling between London and Leeds.
The four Dreadnought Class submarines, each the length of three Olympic swimming pools, will help the Royal Navy to maintain the Continuous At Sea Deterrent (CASD), responsible for safeguarding our national security and way of life. The Dreadnought Programme is a truly incredible national endeavour.
