BARROW-IN-FURNESS — The House of Commons defence committee published a report finding that decades of underfunding in UK shipbuilding and delays at the Barrow-in-Furness yard threaten the delivery of nuclear submarines under the AUKUS pact. The inquiry concluded there were "shortcomings and failings in the delivery of Aukus which threaten to prevent that promise becoming a reality."

The committee found that British submarine availability is "critically low" and that UK shipbuilding has been under-funded for decades. The United Kingdom has only one shipyard for building submarines, at Barrow-in-Furness, where £200 million has been committed for upgrades. The committee found that the timeline for improvements at the yard had already slipped.

The report said: "Efforts to regenerate Barrow to attract and maintain the workforce required to deliver SSN-Aukus must be properly funded." It added: "Only strong and visible political leadership from the very top of government can counter a drift into bureaucratic obscurity and ensure that Aukus receives the funding and priority that the nation's defence and security demands."

Tan Dhesi, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, said "cracks are already beginning to show" in Aukus funding. The report also said: "It is deeply disappointing that more than a year after Sir Stephen Lovegrove completed his review of Aukus, the government's commitment to issue a public version of his findings has not been fulfilled." Lovegrove was appointed as the UK government's Aukus adviser in 2024 and commissioned to review the programme.

The Astute-class submarine HMS Anson docked in Perth in February as Britain's only attack-class submarine at sea, before being rapidly withdrawn and deployed to the Middle East when war broke out in Iran. The report found: "It is clear that fulfilling this commitment has stretched the Astute fleet to – or even beyond – its limits." The committee heard evidence that Britain's submarine fleet was "the smallest the UK has had in living memory."

Under the Aukus pillar one agreement, Australia will buy between three and five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the United States, with the first delivery scheduled for 2032. Before any sale, the President of the United States must certify that it will not diminish the US Navy's undersea capability. The US fleet has 49 boats, three-quarters of the force-level goal of 66.

The United Kingdom must first build its Dreadnought class of nuclear-armed submarines, and by the late 2030s will launch the first specifically designed Aukus submarine for the Royal Navy. The first Australian-built Aukus submarine will be in the water in the early 2040s, with up to eight vessels built and the final boats launched in the 2060s. Aukus is forecast to cost Australia up to A$368 billion by the mid-2050s. Australia has promised the United Kingdom A$4.6 billion to uplift its submarine-building capacity and has forwarded nearly A$0.5 billion to the UK Ministry of Defence. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said of the programme, "And I'm very confident that it will be so." Shadow Defence Minister James Paterson suggested that Australia could acquire a fleet of B-21 stealth bomber jets to address potential capability gaps caused by Aukus delays.