SSN AUKUS Nuclear Attack Submarine Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy
SSN-AUKUS class Nuclear Attack Submarine

ssn aukus class attack submarine nuclear royal australian navy ran bae systems asc osborne 02

12/25

Units:

5 units planned as of 2025

Specifications:

Builder: ASC and BAE Systems, Osborne Naval Shipyard, South Australia

Displacement: over 10,000 tonnes (9,800 long tons)
Length: ?
Beam: ?
Draft: ?
Speed: ?
Range: ?
Complement: ?

Propulsion:
1 x Rolls-Royce pressurised water reactor (PWR)
1 shaft / 1 propeller

Armament:
21 inches (533mm) Torpedo Tubes
for
Mk.48 heavyweight torpedoes

Vertical Launching System (VLS)
for
UGM-84 Harpoon SSM

Systems:
Evolved AN/BYG-1 Combat Management System

The SSN-AUKUS, also known as the SSN-A and the Aukus-class submarine, is a planned class of nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) intended to enter service with the Royal Australian Navy in the early 2040s. The class will replace the Collins class submarines.

The UK commenced an Astute class replacement project in 2018, which was later named the Submersible Ship Nuclear Replacement (SSNR). The ongoing SSNR design was renamed SSN-AUKUS in March 2023, under the 2021 AUKUS trilateral security partnership, when Australia joined the programme and additional US technology was incorporated into the design.

Australia plans to build five SSN-AUKUS submarines in addition to acquiring three nuclear-powered Virginia class submarines from the United States.

When in service with the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy, submarine crews will train and patrol together and undertake joint maintenance and support. Components and parts will be shared with the US.

The SSN-AUKUS class will be powered by a Rolls-Royce pressurised water reactor (PWR), manufactured at an expanded Rolls Royce Raynesway site in Derby. Australia is to invest A$4.6 billion (£2.4 billion) to allow the expansion of Rolls Royce's Derby site, and alongside funding from the UK Ministry of Defence, the site will double in size creating a further 1170 jobs needed to support the delivery of the Australian boats.

The Royal Australian Navy will acquire five SSN-AUKUS class boats that will be built at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia. A new submarine construction yard will be constructed at Osborne to be known as the Submarine Construction Yard. The Royal Australian Navy boats will be built by a joint venture between ASC, who constructed and maintain the Collins class, and BAE Systems. The building of the first boat is to begin by the end of the 2030s with the boat delivered in the early 2040s. A boat will be built every three years.

Australia will operate two submarine classes, and if the build schedule for the SSN-AUKUS falls behind, has the option of purchasing up to two additional Virginia class boats from the United States. As a non-nuclear weapon state under the IAEA, Australia will not produce nuclear fuel for its SSNs. The UK and US intend to provide Australia with nuclear material in complete, welded nuclear power units.

In March 2023, Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead, head of the Australian Nuclear Powered Submarine Task Force, said the SSN-AUKUS design was "about 70 per cent mature".

The SSN-AUKUS class "will incorporate US technology such as propulsion plant systems and components, a common vertical launch system and weapons", and "will have a high degree of commonality" with the Virginia class, including "sharing elements of the propulsion plant, combat system and weapons", enhancing interoperability and Australia's transition to SSN-AUKUS.

In March 2023, Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said the submarines would have a vertical launch system capable of launching cruise missiles with the Tomahawk missile "the logical platform" and would also have the "ability to fire hypersonic missiles". In November 2023, Conroy said the submarines would use an "evolved" version of the AN/BYG1 Combat Management System in use with the Virginia-class and Collins-class and will be armed with Mk.48 torpedoes.

On 26 July 2025, the Australian Foreign and Defence Ministers Penny Wong and Richard Marles signed the Geelong Treaty with their British counterparts, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Secretary of State for Defence John Healey. The Geelong Treaty is a 50-year bilateral defence agreement to facilitate bilateral cooperation on the construction of Australia's SSN-AUKUS submarines.

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