The Ministry of Defence has announced that a total of £285 million will be invested in design work for the next generation of Royal Navy nuclear deterrent submarines. The Successor programme currently employs around 2,200 people in the UK.

BAE Systems (www.baesystems.com) will receive £257 million worth of the design work, while Babcock and Rolls-Royce will receive £22 million and £6 million respectively.

The work will largely be undertaken in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, but also at facilities in Derby and Bristol. Under current plans, four Vanguard submarines (which currently maintain the UK’s nuclear deterrent) will be replaced from 2028.

Tony Johns, managing director at BAE Systems Submarines, said: “Designing a new nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine is one of the most challenging engineering projects in the world today.

“The Successor programme is the largest and most complex project we have ever faced. This funding will now allow us to mature the design over the next 12 months, to enable us to start construction in 2016.”