BAE expands Barrow submarine build hall

New manufacturing and installation capabilities will be added to the site for the Successor programme

BAE systems has signed a contract worth £67 million to expand its site at Barrow, in Cumbria, to build the UK’s new nuclear deterrent submarines. 

The Devonshire Dock Hall, where the Astute class submarines are made, is to be extended in an eight-year redevelopment programme run by construction firm Morgan Sindall. The expansion will allow enough space to build the significantly larger Successor submarines. New buildings will also be added to the site.

Successor will replace the Royal Navy’s Vanguard submarines, which carry the Trident nuclear missiles. BAE Systems said the submarine presents “one of the most complex engineering challenges in the world”. 

Barrow is currently in the third year of the redevelopment programme. BAE Systems said the site has not undergone such significant changes since the dock hall was constructed in 1986. 

Allan Day, director of the site redevelopment programme, said: “This contract will enhance the facility to ensure our workforce can deliver future submarine programmes to the Royal Navy.” 

The site redevelopment programme alone is expected to employ about 850 contractors at
its peak.