Babcock has secured a contract from the UK’s Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) to undertake the second Long Overhaul Period and Refuel (LOP(R)) for HMS Victorious, one of the UK’s Vanguard-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), the company announced on 1 March 2024.
The full cost recovery contract is worth an estimated GBP 560 million (EUR 654 million).
Work on the submarine is already underway, following a commitment by the UK Ministry of Defence to authorise early works with an initial contract in July 2023.
Babcock CEO David Lockwood was quoted in a company press release as saying, “Delivering the programme for this vital and complex defence asset is our top priority. We are proud to have been awarded this complex defence programme which will use our deep engineering expertise to help keep the UK safe.”
HMS Victorious is the second of the Royal Navy’s four Vanguard-class SSBNs to undergo a life extension package at Babcock’s Devonport facility. Lead boat HMS Vanguard completed the same LOP(R) process at Devonport in May 2023, after an expected three-year programme eventually took more than seven years.
All four Vanguard-class SSBNs have already received a first LOP(R) at Devonport, where a major infrastructure programme is underway to ensure the future capability requirements of the Royal Navy and the UK’s submarine enterprise can be fully met from state-of-the-art facilities.
The Royal Navy’s four Vanguard-class SSBNs – Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance – are based at based at HM Naval Base Clyde near Glasgow in Scotland. Armed with Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles, they are the delivery platforms for the UK’s nuclear deterrent.
The Vanguard-class SSBNs will serve into the 2030s, when they will be replaced by a new fleet of four Dreadnaught-class SSBNs.
