Corporate report

A National Endeavour: Nuclear as part of the Defence engine for growth

Published 23 April 2026

Introduction

As the Strategic Defence Review made clear: the UK’s nuclear deterrent is the bedrock of our national security and the cornerstone of our commitment to NATO and global security.

The government’s support for defence nuclear is absolute, underpinned by its triple lock, guaranteeing (i) the building of four Dreadnought submarines, (ii) that we will maintain our nuclear deterrent, and (iii) the delivery of all future upgrades to ensure the safety and effectiveness of our submarines.

The UK’s Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) is responsible for hundreds of projects of differing scope, scale and specialism. This includes two submarine build programmes – with a further one in design – the replacement warhead programme, major infrastructure upgrades including at two naval bases, and a new nuclear fuels programme.

Delivering this work is a National Endeavour: creating jobs, driving growth, and strengthening security. In every corner of the country the collective efforts of tens of thousands of people are helping our country to prosper and keeping us and our NATO Allies safe.

The Strategic Defence Review highlighted the need for sustained investment across the DNE. We are meeting that call: investing £15bn into the UK’s sovereign warhead programme during this Parliament; recapitalising critical elements of our infrastructure; modernising our naval bases and manufacturing processes; and investing £6bn over the Spending Review period to transform our industrial base and deliver continuous submarine production, allowing the UK to produce a submarine every 18 months.

The landmark AUKUS agreement is unlocking new opportunities for British industry as we develop the next generation of attack submarines and support Australia to build their own capabilities.

A strong Defence is a key foundation of a growing economy, and through the Defence Industrial Strategy we are embarking on a new era for our defence industry. DNE investments are transforming communities around our sites, creating opportunities across the country, stimulating development through our supply chain and establishing Britain as a global leader in innovation.

This booklet provides information on how defence nuclear is driving growth in your area, along with examples of the innovative and world-leading technology being developed and deployed through our partnerships with industry and academia.

The UK’s Defence Nuclear Enterprise: delivering security and growth.

The DNE is an engine for growth

Transforming communities

DNE investments boost regional and local economies. We are supporting regeneration and sustainability: unlocking opportunities in areas around our key sites, and funding initiatives that strengthen local infrastructure and services.

In Plymouth, a £4.4bn investment oven ten years in HMNB Devonport and Devonport Royal Dockyard and a new £50m Defence Growth Deal will support a range of programmes to transform the city’s future through defence-driven opportunity, innovation and growth. Building on existing government investment of £175m, ‘Team Plymouth’ will strengthen the city region through targeted initiatives in skills, housing, and transport to build long-term capability and prosperity.

Opened in 2024, The Bridge on Portland Walk provides a space where local organisations and third parties can promote the wide range of career opportunities in the area. As part of a major housebuilding expansion over 800 new homes are being built at Barrow Waterfront, and £23m is being invested to improve the road infrastructure connecting Barrow to other key industrial sites on the Cumbrian coast.

Recognising Barrow’s role as a strategic national asset, DNE spending is fuelling substantial growth and expansion. The economic certainty from the government’s commitment to the submarine building programme underpins the 10-year Plan for Barrow, backed by the £200m Barrow Transformation Fund. A £5m Social Impact Fund will support Barrow’s voluntary community and social enterprise sector, and a £5m Brilliant Future Fund investment in local schools is boosting aspiration and supporting the needs of Barrow’s young people.

Creating opportunities

The DNE supports over 47,000 jobs across the UK. This is expected to grow to 65,000 by 2030 as we transform our submarine production capacity and see increased demand in our programmes including AUKUS and Dreadnought. As well as nuclear expertise of scientists and engineers, the DNE depends on skilled trades such as welders, electricians, and mechanical fitters.

Thousands more construction jobs are being created to deliver infrastructure projects such as AWE’s new Future Materials Campus in Aldermaston and the redevelopment of HMNB Clyde, as well as at industrial sites in Plymouth, Barrow, Derby and Sheffield.

AUKUS will see both the UK and Australia benefit from the exchange of skills, people, and knowledge. The programme will further strengthen the UK’s submarine design, procurement and project management expertise. New educational and operational training programmes are being established to support AUKUS requirements, as we support Australia to build their capability to safely operate and maintain this next generation of attack submarine.

The Nuclear Skills Plan contains a range of initiatives to ensure we have the pipeline of future skills we need. In 2024/25, 778 graduates (up 27%) and 1,675 apprentices (up 20%) started with defence nuclear organisations, with 20 funded nuclear fission PhDs helping to develop a new generation of UK experts. We are working with industry and academia with the aim of creating 22,000 apprenticeships and 9,000 graduate roles in defence nuclear by 2034/35. Through compelling storytelling, real-life role models and targeted outreach, the Destination Nuclear Campaign is helping shift perceptions and spark interest in careers in the nuclear sector.

Regional Skills Hubs are now active in the South West, the Midlands, the North West and in Scotland, connecting local talent with national programmes and acting as anchors for training, outreach, and employer collaboration.

Our major industry partners – BAE Systems, Babcock International Group and Rolls-Royce Submarines – have established dedicated nuclear skills academies at their key sites in Barrow, Plymouth and Derby respectively. These provide current and future generations of our nuclear workforce with the skills and practical experience needed to sustain our largest and critical programmes. The new University of Cumbria Barrow campus – established with support from BAE Systems and the government’s Towns Fund – is supporting the town’s future economic, skills, cultural and social development.

Stimulating supply chain development

With a supply chain of over 6,000 UK-based companies, defence nuclear makes a pivotal contribution to the government’s mission to build a resilient, high growth UK defence industry. The government’s commitments send a clear demand signal to industry, and the long-term nature of DNE programmes incentivises and stimulates investment and development right through the supply chain.

The DNE spent over £9bn directly with its industry partners in FY24/25. This investment then cascades across the country through the supply chain. Large contractors and SMEs across the UK are seizing the opportunities presented by defence nuclear to modernise and expand their machinery, processes and workforce – kickstarting growth and creating jobs. Our Submarine Enterprise Supplier Development Programme is supporting several companies to improve performance, cost-effectiveness and upskill their workforce.

Submarines contain thousands of specialised components, many of which can only be sourced from suppliers with nuclear qualifications. The work of our industrial base is highly‑skilled, complex and often unique, and we continue to work to address entry barriers. Recent supply chain conferences, including one hosted by the Australian High Commission, have brought hundreds of organisations together, fostering understanding and deepening collaboration, and helping companies identify and secure new opportunities across our programmes.

With its trilateral supply chain AUKUS provides UK companies with significant new opportunities. Australia has made a commitment of £2.4bn over 10 years into our submarine industrial base to support their AUKUS requirements. The AUKUS programme is expected to deliver billions of pounds of exports for UK companies from enhanced demand into the supply chain from Australian orders.

Government investment in infrastructure, equipment and workforce capability is building a more resilient UK submarine manufacturing enterprise. More than £6bn will be spent over this Parliament with a range of suppliers and locations, including at BAE Systems in Barrow and Rolls-Royce in Derby, to deliver our commitment to continuous submarine production. £425m of additional funding (taking total Ministry of Defence investment to £1.3bn) is helping Sheffield Forgemasters to dramatically increase their efficiency, capacity and productivity. A new 13,000 tonne heavy forge and 30,000m² machine hall will feature 26 of the world’s most advanced, large heavy-duty machine tools, and secure over 700 jobs.

Driving innovation

The UK must maintain strategic advantage over our potential adversaries. The DNE’s multi-billion-pound investment in R&D ensures the UK remains at the forefront of emerging and advanced technology, driving innovation and increasing productivity across our industrial base.

This includes investing in seven ‘Catapult Centres’ across the UK to enable industry, scientists and engineers to work together on late-stage R&D. With a focus on emerging technology, this network of High Value Manufacturing Catapult Centres helps to commercialise the UK’s most advanced manufacturing ideas.

A new £110m Royal Navy Submarine Training Centre at HMNB Clyde will reach full operational capability in 2026. Alongside the Submarine Escape, Recovery and Survivability facility, UK submariners achieve true operational readiness through state-of-the-art training environments, deploying cutting-edge and highly immersive technology and simulators.

The Clyde Innovation Cell’s annual exhibition at HMNB Clyde enables industry and academia to showcase technologies aimed at increasing efficiencies in submarine maintenance.

AWE has established seven strategic partnerships with universities across the country, each providing world‑leading technical and research expertise in areas critical to the development and delivery of DNE programmes. They have committed to establishing five new Centres of Excellence to deliver strategic and collaborative R&D across scientific computing, future systems materials technology, quantum computing and sensing, actinides research and nuclear data. A partnership with Space Park Leicester has led to significant advancements in environmental testing and analysis.

AWE is also home of the Orion Laser Facility, one of the most powerful lasers in the world. Orion is a high energy density physics experimental facility that enables AWE scientists and physicists to improve their understanding of nuclear warhead science. The Orion laser can replicate conditions found at the centre of the sun and simulate supernovas in the lab.

Collaboration with our AUKUS partners in high-tech capabilities such as nuclear propulsion and advanced manufacturing is promoting UK academic excellence while driving groundbreaking achievements through knowledge-sharing. The second AUKUS Innovation Challenge was launched by the Defence and Security Accelerator in March 2025, with up to £6m of funding available for projects focused on undersea Command, Control and Communications.

An engine for growth: The Defence Nuclear Enterprise at a glance

Jobs supported by the Defence Nuclear Enterprise:	47,600[footnote 1]
Anticipated DNE workforce demand by 2030:	65,000[footnote 1]
DNE wage premium:	20%[footnote 2]
Number of apprenticeships by 2035:	22,000
Number of graduate roles by 2035:	9,000
UK-based companies in the DNE supply chain:	6,000+
DNE supply chain spend:	£100bn+ spend by the DNE through UK suppliers in the next decade[footnote 3]
Research & Development:	Multi-billion pound spending on nuclear R&D in the next decade

An engine for growth: Defence Nuclear Enterprise key sites

Site name	Description	Personnel
AWE Nuclear Security Technologies	Designs, manufactures, maintains and disposes of nuclear warheads	9,000
BAE Systems Barrow	The build site for all the UK’s nuclear-powered submarines, including the future SSN-A build	13,500
HMNB Clyde	Home to the Submarine service, including the SSBN operational base, RNAD Coulport, and the Submarine Centre of Excellence	5,000
HMNB Devonport & Babcock Devonport Royal Dockyard	Royal Navy and Babcock co-located site, providing deep submarine maintenance, refuelling and defuelling, and through-life support programmes	8,000
Ministry of Defence Main Building	Home of the Defence Nuclear Organisation, and headquarters of the DNE
Navy Command HQ	The strategic command HQ of the Royal Navy
Rolls-Royce Submarines	Main construction and development site for our submarines’ nuclear reactor cores	4,000
Rosyth Dockyard - Babcock International Group	Alongside Devonport, Rosyth dismantles and decommissions out-of-service submarines	850
Sheffield Forgemasters	Produces large scale high-integrity castings and forgings from specialist steels used for submarine reactor cores	700
Submarine Delivery Agency	Delivery of our submarine programmes	2,500
Vulcan Nuclear Test Establishment	Test facility for Pressurised Water Reactors	250
Epure (Valduc, France)	A joint UK-France hydrodynamics facility through Teutates Treaty

DNE spotlight: Scotland & Northern Ireland

At a glance

Number of Defence Nuclear Enterprise employees:	5,000[footnote 1]
Companies in the supply chain:	800+[footnote 4]
Regional supply chain annual spend:	£438m[footnote 5]

Key sites and suppliers

His Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde – consisting of both the Faslane and Coulport sites – is home to the UK submarine service and is the largest military site in Scotland. Faslane is the base for our nuclear-armed deterrence patrol submarines and our nuclear-powered conventionally-armed attack submarines, as well as units such as 43 Commando, a Royal Marine operational unit that helps to secure our nuclear deterrent.

Royal Naval Armaments Depot (RNAD) Coulport is responsible for the storage and loading of UK nuclear warheads on the UK’s stock of Trident II D5 missiles, and the ammunitioning of all submarine embarked weapons.

A multi-decade, multi-billion-pound investment programme at HMNB Clyde will create significant opportunities for the regional supply chain.

Rolls-Royce’s new Glasgow base supports the delivery of technologies needed to power our next generation of nuclear submarines. The company also assists with the operation of a nuclear propulsion test facility in Caithness.

Thales has over 100 years of history building periscopes for the Royal Navy and has developed a new Integrated Combat System Mast, with novel sensor technology, for our new Dreadnought Class submarines, which is being manufactured at their Govan site.

Babcock provides specialist services at HMNB Clyde, including aspects of site management and submarine operational maintenance. They also own and operate Rosyth Dockyard where nuclear submarine dismantling operations on HMS Swiftsure are taking place, alongside missile tube work for our Dreadnought submarines.

Case Study 1: Clyde Transformation Programme

The Clyde Transformation Programme is a multi-billion multi-decade investment in HMNB Clyde, ensuring the UK has a modern and efficient naval base to support those living, working and training to deliver our continuous at sea deterrent and attack submarines. It will be one of the most significant and sustained UK Government investments made in Scotland – and as announced in the 2025 Spending Review, £250m has been allocated for the next three years.

Through collaboration between government, industry and academia, the programme will create a pipeline of skilled and sustainable employment in the West of Scotland, unlocking major opportunities for the region. A strategic workforce plan will ensure the right skills are available at the right time.

HMNB Clyde’s new £110m Royal Navy Submarine Training Centre will be used to train all submariner trainees serving onboard our current Vanguard Class and future Dreadnought Class deterrence patrol submarines.

Case Study 2: AWE strategic partnerships with Scottish universities

The DNE’s relationship with academic institutions across the UK is critical to delivering research projects, driving innovation and unlocking new opportunities. Investment in cutting-edge technologies and capabilities and close collaboration is creating a new generation of expertise, including in Scotland, where AWE has strategic partnerships with two world-leading universities.

Building on its existing expertise in high powered x-ray technology, research at the University of Strathclyde is supporting the creation of technical solutions across advanced manufacturing techniques, pulse power, satellite and sensor research.

At Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, collaboration centres on photonics, including optical centres and analysis. This supports AWE’s sensing and metrology capabilities.

DNE spotlight: North of England

At a glance

Number of Defence Nuclear Enterprise employees:	15,000[footnote 1]
Companies in the supply chain:	1,000+[footnote 4]
Regional supply chain annual spend:	£3.4bn[footnote 5]

Key sites and suppliers

The North West is the home of UK submarine building, with BAE Systems in Barrow-in-Furness having constructed submarines for the Royal Navy for over 100 years. The Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA), Babcock and Rolls‑Royce Submarines all have teams in Barrow contributing to the delivery of our submarine build programmes.

Barrow is currently delivering the Dreadnought Programme – the next generation of nuclear-armed deterrence patrol submarines – as well as completing the Astute Class programme of nuclear-powered, conventionally-armed attack submarines (SSN). Work has commenced on design phase activity for Astute’s successor capability – SSN-AUKUS – developed under the trilateral AUKUS defence partnership.

Significant investment at the shipyard will help us deliver the increase in submarine production rate announced in the Strategic Defence Review. This will enable the UK to deliver continuous submarine production, producing a submarine every 18 months. This will allow us to grow our SSN fleet through the SSN-AUKUS programme from seven to up to 12 boats.

Our submarine build programmes are contributing to significant jobs growth in Barrow, from just under 11,000 in 2023 to 13,500 now employed by BAE Systems at the shipyard. Project demand is expected to see further increases in DNE jobs in the region to around 16,500 by 2027.

BEL Engineering, based in Newcastle, is a precision engineering business manufacturing complex components for our submarines.

Case Study 1: Plan for Barrow

Investment in Barrow-in-Furness is fundamental to enable and sustain the workforce expansion required to support the DNE. Through our partnership with Westmorland and Furness Council and BAE Systems, the government is delivering a major package of support, including a £5m Social Impact Fund to support Barrow’s voluntary community and social enterprise sector.

The 10-year £200m Barrow Transformation Fund is a central part of ‘Plan for Barrow’. The Plan aims to see 12,000 homes built across the region including over 800 at Barrow Waterfront. This is on top of existing cross-government investments in the communities and infrastructure of Furness, including £23m on the A595 Grizebeck bypass.

With support from BAE Systems and £25m from the government’s Towns Fund, the University of Cumbria has established Barrow’s first university campus to help fill higher education skills gaps and investing in community hubs.

Case Study 2: AWE Scientific Computing Centre of Excellence

The Hartree Centre, based in Warrington, is one of eight partners undertaking vital research for AWE’s new Centre of Excellence in Scientific Computing, based at the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre at the University of Edinburgh.

The Hartree Centre is collaborating with AWE experts to explore cutting-edge tomography, the expansion of traditional techniques, AI and machine learning.

Supercomputing is a critical part of AWE’s work, essential for 3D modelling and simulation.

DNE spotlight: South West & Wales

At a glance

Number of Defence Nuclear Enterprise employees:	10,900[footnote 1]
Companies in the supply chain:	750+[footnote 4]
Regional supply chain annual spend:	£2.5bn[footnote 5]

Key sites and suppliers

Babcock has support functions in Bristol focused on design and technical services. This includes the Submarine Availability Support Hub, facilitating increased collaboration between the Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) and Babcock.

Babcock also owns and operates the Devonport Royal Dockyard in Plymouth, the UK’s only nuclear licensed facility for deep submarine maintenance, refuel and defuel activities and other through-life support programmes. The co-located site – containing the Ministry of Defence owned HMNB Devonport – is benefitting from major government investment to support the delivery of critical submarine programmes, and forms a key part of the new Plymouth Defence Growth Deal.

Thales is providing the main sonar arrays for our Astute and Dreadnought Class submarines, manufactured at their Templecombe site in Somerset. Norco in Poole specialises in the design and manufacture of composite structures and GRP mouldings.

BAE Systems has teams working in Portsmouth and Plymouth contributing to the maintenance and upgrade of in-service vessels. Tradebe Inutec assists with safe and secure radioactive waste management, including an innovative MOD-sponsored plant that recently began operations in Winfrith, Dorset.

Rolls-Royce’s new Cardiff office accesses the skilled talent in the region across mechanical design and materials engineering, creating over 100 jobs. In South Wales, British Rototherm is a manufacturer of instruments and measurement solutions.

Case Study 1: Plymouth Defence Growth Deal

Announced in the 2025 Defence Industrial Strategy, Plymouth is one of five areas to receive Defence Growth Area designation. The city will receive £50m of government funding focused on defence innovation and regeneration projects.

‘Team Plymouth’ – a partnership including Babcock, the Ministry of Defence and Plymouth City Council – will ensure the city fully capitalises on this designation and wider investment, including through its role as a Maritime Autonomy Centre of Excellence. Team Plymouth will strengthen collaboration between key organisations, foster innovation and create high-quality jobs, reflecting a shared ambition to transform the city’s future.

Harnessing the government’s £4.4bn investment into HMNB Devonport and over £175m of cross-government investment already committed to regeneration initiatives – including supporting over 2,000 people back into work through the Connect to Work Scheme – Team Plymouth will focus on areas such as skills, transport and housing. Its aims include delivering 10,000 new homes and a building a transformational blue/green skills hub to support sustainable growth and innovation.

Case Study 2: Babcock Centre for Engineering and Nuclear Skills

In September 2024, City College Plymouth launched its Engineering and Nuclear Skills building, developed in partnership with Babcock and the National College for Nuclear.

Babcock is now unlocking further investment to establish a dedicated Centre for Engineering and Nuclear Skills. The Centre will significantly boost the city’s STEM capacity, ensuring the UK can meet its growing demand for skilled engineers and technicians in both the defence and civil nuclear sectors.

With learning aligned to current and future training demand, these facilities are helping to build a new pipeline of nuclear talent. As well as upskilling the existing Babcock workforce, the Centre will be utilised by organisations across the DNE, and as a training facility by educational institutes and the local community.

DNE spotlight: Yorkshire & The Humber

At a glance

Number of Defence Nuclear Enterprise employees:	700[footnote 1]
Companies in the supply chain:	20+[footnote 4]
Regional supply chain annual spend:	£230m[footnote 6]

Key sites and suppliers

Sheffield Forgemasters, which has been fully owned by the MOD since 2021, manufactures critical components for the UK’s defence nuclear programmes. With over 250 years of history, it is the only UK manufacturer with the skills and capability to produce the specialist components for our submarine build and AWE programmes, as well as exports in support of UK allies’ defence programmes.

The company also makes a significant contribution to the DNE’s ‘Test, Trials and Evaluations’ technology, which enable us to certify the safety and performance of our systems without requiring nuclear tests, with government investing over £20m annually for hydrodynamic vessels.

Sheffield Forgemasters’ manufacturing capability for gun barrels ceased around 20 years ago, but has recently been regenerated. This vital work stream is now supporting Ukraine’s defence of its sovereign territory. It is also creating additional jobs in the region, while promoting industrial innovation as the UK reconstructs a key national capability to manufacture barrels.

Also in Sheffield, Chesterfield Special Cylinders has over a century of expertise as a leading supplier of specialised, high-pressure gas containment systems and services.

Case Study 1: Sheffield Forgemasters

Backed by £425m of additional funding announced in the 2025 Spending Review, taking total Ministry of Defence investment to £1.3bn, Sheffield Forgemasters is modernising and expanding its facilities to support defence manufacture and exports. To date £401m (42% of total) has been spent or committed within Yorkshire and the Humber.

This will see the company significantly increase its capacity, resilience and productivity – equipping its workforce with modern plant, processes, skills, and infrastructure, and securing key manufacturing capabilities for the future. This includes an entirely new 13,000 tonne Forging Line and a state-of-the-art machining facility featuring 26 of the world’s most advanced large heavy-duty machine tools. This investment will secure the additional machines as well as the digital and physical infrastructure required to accommodate the increase in submarine production rate announced in the Strategic Defence Review.

This major programme of work will secure over 700 skilled jobs and growth of Sheffield Forgemasters’ apprentice programme, as well as supporting 900 construction jobs.

Case Study 2: Catapult Centres - UK-wide

The DNE is investing £39m in seven ‘Catapult Centres’ across the UK, accelerating innovation with a focus on emerging technology. Catapult Centres enable industry, scientists and engineers to work together on late-stage research and development, and the commercialising of the UK’s most advanced manufacturing ideas.

Institutions, including in Yorkshire and the Humber, have been chosen as a result of specialist skillsets and capability. This collaboration is enabling the developing of new technologies, process and approaches to some of the DNE’s most complex, and often highly sensitive, scientific, engineering and manufacturing challenges.

This network of High Value Catapult Centres also forms a key part of the nuclear skills agenda. Investment is creating full-time PhD research positions, together with additional roles contributing indirectly to the projects.

DNE spotlight: Midlands

At a glance

Number of Defence Nuclear Enterprise employees:	4,000[footnote 1]
Companies in the supply chain:	900+[footnote 4]
Regional supply chain annual spend:	£1bn[footnote 5]

Key sites and suppliers

For over 60 years Rolls-Royce Submarines have designed, supplied and supported the nuclear propulsion systems that power the UK’s nuclear submarines. A world leader in submarine propulsion systems, significant investment at their site in Raynesway, Derby, is helping to boost productivity, drive innovation and create the additional skills jobs needed to accelerate submarine production.

BAE Systems’ new digital engineering hub in Coventry, opened in collaboration with the Midland Manufacturing Centre (MTC), is creating more than 100 jobs. The hub will develop local engineering talent to work on complex systems for our submarines.

Somers Forge in Halesowen produces forgings and finished steel components for our submarines. As a result of long-term, secure DNE contracts, the company has been able to invest in its advanced manufacturing technologies, and has acquired a precision engineering business.

SFC (Europe) produces specialist fasteners and machined components for our submarines from its facility in Wolverhampton, with contracts for our programmes enabling the company to grow its workforce by 40% to meet demand.

Case Study 1: Rolls-Royce Skills Academy

The future of nuclear capability in the UK is a key focus for Rolls‑Royce Submarines and the first Nuclear Skills Academy for defence opened in Derby in September 2022 to an initial 200 apprentices spread across four courses.

The Nuclear Skills Academy has grown year-on-year since and now offers five courses, awarded by the University of Derby and endorsed by the National College for Nuclear. Through the Nuclear Skills Plan, almost 600 apprentices have come through the doors of the Academy since opening.

All apprentices receive hands-on practical work experience within the business, while receiving fully funded further and higher education qualifications.

Case Study 2: AWE x Space Park Leicester

AWE has partnered with Space Park Leicester (SPL) and the University of Leicester, with collaboration focused on manufacturing development, and environmental testing and analysis.

Major areas of joint research include determining a deeper understanding of radiation modelling, exploring the dynamics of laser-plasma interactions using AWE’s Orion laser facility, and developing transferable skills from the satellite and space domain.

AWE colleagues have had the opportunity to benefit from secondments and placements at SPL, undertaking operational work for mutual benefit. In parallel, AWE’s focused recruitment efforts have attracted skilled professionals from the East Midlands, many of whom are at the beginning of their careers and already making meaningful contributions to a diverse range of technical projects.

DNE spotlight: South East

At a glance

Number of Defence Nuclear Enterprise employees:	9,500[footnote 1]
Companies in the supply chain:	1,500+[footnote 4]
Regional supply chain annual spend:	£1.6bn[footnote 5]

Key sites and suppliers

AWE Nuclear Security Technologies designs and manufactures the UK’s nuclear warheads, deploying cutting-edge science and engineering facilities at their two main sites in Berkshire: Aldermaston and Burghfield. Once a wartime airfield, Aldermaston is now a centre of excellence – housing advanced research, design and manufacturing facilities. It is undergoing substantial infrastructure upgrades.

Burghfield is a 225-acre site and former munitions factory, where warheads are assembled and maintained while in service, and decommissioned when out of service. AWE’s award-winning apprenticeship programme provides a future pipeline of critical talent for the defence nuclear industry, and it has one of the largest graduate programmes in the country for engineering.

Based in Andover in Hampshire, SMI provide submarine cable systems. BAE Systems employs over 500 people at its Frimley site in Surrey which includes a comprehensive test and integration facility. The only one of its kind in the UK, the facility develops submarine digital systems ahead of implementation. The Frimley site also includes an ‘Innovation Hub’, where engineers investigate new and emerging technologies for potential use in our next generation of submarines.

At their Haslar site near Portsmouth, QinetiQ provide specialist maritime design, test and evaluation facilities and capabilities.

Case Study 1: AWE Future Materials Campus

As part of a multi-billion-pound infrastructure transformation programme, AWE’s new Future Materials Campus (FMC) will renew existing facilities for the manufacture of nuclear components, storage of nuclear materials, provide improved science and analysis capabilities, and invest in new capabilities for nuclear material recovery.

This investment will generate significant opportunities across the industrial base, creating jobs and developing critical UK capabilities across construction, science and engineering.

The FMC programme is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a world-class scientific, engineering and technological centre of excellence. It will ensure the UK remains a world leader in new nuclear technologies.

Case Study 2: Test, Trials and Evaluation Research & Development

Test and trials technology is crucial to the DNE, enabling us to certify the safety and performance of our systems without requiring nuclear tests. The Ministry of Defence is making significant investment in a range of projects across the UK to renew or refurbish these capabilities. In the South East, this includes collaborating on the development of a fast neutron capability to enable component testing.

At the University of Southampton, cutting-edge work is taking place through Project HERACLES. This research focuses on high energy density radiography for non-destructive imaging of components and devices, de-risking a number of critical infrastructure projects across the DNE.

1. According to the 2024 Nuclear Workforce Assessment (published March 2025). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. Based on a MOD survey of the main defence nuclear industry organisations, comparing surveyed organisations aggregated national average wage with ONS 2024 all wage average – this DNE wage premium reflects the often highly specialist and in-demand nature of the work. ↩

3. Throughout this publication, supply chain spending is based on direct contract spend on defence nuclear programmes by the Defence Nuclear Organisation, Submarine Delivery Agency, AWE, Royal Navy, and Cyber & Specialist Operations Command. This direct DNE spend then cascades across the country through a network of over 6,000 companies. ↩

4. Based on registered office location. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

5. Based on FY24/25 direct DNE spend, allocated by contract location of work. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

6. Based on FY24/25 direct DNE spend, allocated by contract location of work. Figure also includes £145m FY24/25 investment in Sheffield Forgemasters’ recapitalisation programme. ↩