The boss of BAE has refused to be drawn on whether the Dreadnought submarine programme will be delivered on time and on budget.

Chief executive Charles Woodburn said the company was making 'good progress' on building the submarines, which are due to replace the current Vanguard class nuclear deterrent.

Last year, the National Audit Office said construction of new facilities at Barrow was two years behind schedule, while the existing Vanguard fleet is due to have served for 13 years longer than planned by the time the first Dreadnought boat arrives.

First of the new boats, HMS Dreadnought, is to enter service in the early 2030s.

Asked by the Sunday Times whether BAE will build the new submarines on budget and to the revised deadline, he said: “We’re making good progress on Dreadnought.

"Every iteration that we have of submarines, we get better at doing it."

Asked again if he was confident that BAE will hit its targets, he refused to be drawn. He added: “We’re making very good progress on Dreadnought.”

The overall budget for the programme is £31 billion, with a further £10 billion contingency fund.

Four Dreadnought-class nuclear submarines are being built to replace the current Vanguard class of boats.

The Dreadnought programme already employs more than 7,000 people across the MOD and in industry, including 2,800 at BAE Systems.

Mr Woodburn cited the two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers – the biggest vessels ever built for the Royal Navy, at a cost of £6.8 billion – as evidence that BAE can deliver projects to budget and schedule.

The delivery of the Barrow-built Dreadnought submarine programme has not been affected by disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a report to Parliament said last year.

In an update the Government set out what progress had been made, accepting the ‘strategic shock’ from the pandemic had an impact on the future nuclear deterrent programme.

But changing working practices had meant that significant progress was made over the year.

A report said: “Despite the effects of Covid-19, the Dreadnought ballistic missile submarine programme continues to remain within overall budget and on track for the First of Class, HMS Dreadnought, to enter service in the early 2030s."

Thousands of staff at Barrow’s shipyard were working off-site, while shift patterns were altered to reduce the number of workers there at any one time.

According to workforce predictions published in 2020, an extra 1,000 staff are expected to return to the shipyard from May 2021, with reduced numbers staying steady until at least the end of 2023.

The value of the Dreadnought programme to the company to date is £5.9 billion, with contract funding of £0.6 billion received in 2020.

A number of renovations are under way at the shipyard to allow for the boats to be built.

Speaking in February, a BAE Systems spokesman said: “The major programme of investment to redevelop the Barrow site to support the delivery of Dreadnought is progressing, with a number of new facilities complete and in operation.”