THE long-term future of the Barrow shipyard may be secured following reports the UK has succeeded in its bid to sell nuclear submarines to Australia.

The Aukus agreement between Australia, United Kingdom and United States is a commitment to share expertise and skills to develop Australia's nuclear fleet.

This could include Australia commissioning submarines from BAE in the future.

Supplying Australia with a nuclear-powered submarine was the centrepiece for the Aukus defence pact, announced in September 2021, with the US and UK agreeing to share secret reactor technology in a surprise deal, so Canberra could dump an alternative diesel-powered design from France, the Guardian reports.

The UK’s recent exports of the Type 26 frigate designs to Australia and Canada supported 5,000 UK jobs and created £6bn worth of work in the UK economy.

READ MORE: Shadow defence secretary said AUKUS should benefit Barrow

Australia will become the seventh country to have a nuclear-powered submarine, relying on an enriched uranium reactor, propulsion technology that will put the country’s diesel-powered navy on a technological par with China.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reportedly told ministers to expect a positive outcome next week when he travels to San Diego to unveil a deal to supply nuclear-powered submarines to Australia as part of the Aukus pact with the US.

Multiple sources said they believed the UK had succeeded in its bid to sell British-designed nuclear submarines to Australia, a deal that will safeguard the long-term future of the shipyard at Barrow, said The Guardian.

Shadow defence secretary John Healey visited the shipyard earlier this month and insisted that the Government 'must bring the benefits of Aukus to Barrow'.

Mr Healey visited BAE and pledged any future Labour government would remain committed to the agreement.  

Mr Healey discussed the potential benefits the tri-lateral submarine-building pact could have for defence jobs in Barrow and the wider North West during meetings with senior managers and trade union representatives at BAE Systems.

Mr Healey said: “For Labour, AUKUS deepens our commitment to one of the UK’s closest allies and supports our ‘build in Britain’ mission, which could bring thousands of highly skilled jobs to the UK in places like Barrow.

“But ministers seem too concerned with their week-to-week survival to make any major decisions to secure these opportunities.

“Labour has been clear that we want to see Britain playing as big a role as possible in the delivery of new submarines for Australia. In Government, Labour will bring the benefits of partnerships like AUKUS to Barrow”.