New research, by BAE Systems, has shown that the UK’s Dreadnought submarine programme supports tens of thousands of jobs across the UK.

The company says the Dreadnought submarine programme makes a significant contribution to the UK economy, supporting almost 30,000 jobs across the country.

While nearly half of these jobs reside in the North West of England, the supply chain for Dreadnought extends to every region of the UK. Working with partners Rolls-Royce and the Submarine Delivery Agency as part of the Dreadnought alliance, BAE Systems estimates it will spend in the region of £7.5bn with 1,500 supply chain companies over the life of the programme across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Dreadnought class boats will be the Royal Navy’s biggest, most powerful and most technically advanced submarines when they begin to enter service from the early 2030s and will play a pivotal role in the nation’s defence and security for decades to come. Work on the first two boats in the class is well underway at the company’s shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

£2.5bn worth of contracts have already been placed with suppliers across the UK.

Of the 30,000 jobs which are sustained by the Dreadnought programme, nearly 8,000 are directly employed by BAE Systems, with 11,800 jobs in the programme’s supply chain and a further 10,200 (induced) jobs supported across the country.

BAE Systems says the findings, published in the year the Barrow shipyard celebrates its 150th anniversary, emphasise the vital role that the business continues to play, both strategically within the UK’s defence sector and to the wider economy.

The Barrow site is being transformed to accommodate the new class of boat, with approximately £1bn of investment in facilities and infrastructure. A further £450m is being invested in new technology to optimise the design and manufacturing processes and enhance the capability of the submarine.