Concept map of the British Navy's Dreadnought class nuclear submarine. Recently, the British Navy held a keel laying ceremony for the first ship of the new generation strategic nuclear submarine, the Dreadnought class, at the Barrow in Furness shipyard in Cumbria, England. British Prime Minister Stammer and Defense Secretary Healy attended the ceremony together, marking a crucial step in the construction of the UK's new generation of nuclear deterrence. The design indicators are considerable. With the development of modular shipbuilding technology, laying the keel is no longer a necessary step in the construction of submarines and most modern warships, but this ritual as a symbolic tradition has been preserved. For the "Fearless" nuclear submarine, which has been built modularly for nearly 10 years, this marks the entry of its various compartments into the final assembly stage. As a future strategic nuclear deterrence platform for the UK, four Dreadnought class nuclear submarines are expected to enter service in the 1930s, replacing the current Vanguard class nuclear submarines one-on-one to ensure the continuity of the UK's nuclear deterrence capability until the 2060s. According to design specifications, the Dreadnought class will be the largest submarine ever built in the history of the UK and even Europe (excluding Russia), with a total length of 153.6 meters and an underwater displacement of approximately 17200 tons, slightly higher than the Vanguard class (approximately 16000 tons). The power system adopts a new type of reactor developed by Rolls Royce and improved based on the pressurized water reactor of the Virginia class attack submarine in the United States. It has better safety and longer lifespan, and is expected to operate continuously for 20 years without the need for fuel replacement. This type of boat is powered by turbine electricity, using a pump jet propulsion system and an X-shaped rudder. Its underwater speed exceeds 28 knots, and the noise during high-speed navigation is reduced to the lowest level in history. Its quietness and stealth performance are improved by about 40% compared to the avant-garde class. In terms of sensor system, this type of boat adopts the French Thales Group 2076 integrated sonar system, combined with side array sonar, etc., with a detection radius covering about 100 nautical miles (about 185 kilometers) around. The electronic warfare mast can integrate optical monitoring, satellite communication, and electronic countermeasures functions, thus forming a comprehensive battlefield perception capability. In terms of strike capability, it will still be equipped with the American made Trident II D5 submarine launched ballistic missile. However, the number of missile launch tubes has been reduced from 16 in the front guard class to 12 (3 sets of 4 in combination), increasing the living area and improving the living environment and crew comfort inside the ship. This type of submarine is expected to be equipped with a new "Asteria" nuclear warhead with a yield of about 450000 tons, and will share technology with the W93 nuclear warhead planned to be carried on the Columbia class strategic nuclear submarine under construction by the United States. The Dreadnought class nuclear submarine project, which urgently needs to replace old boats, is one of the most important defense construction projects in the UK in recent years, with a total cost of approximately 43 billion pounds (about 52.5 billion US dollars, excluding the cost of updating nuclear warheads), and has invested over 10 billion pounds to date. In 2012, BAE Systems officially launched the design work for this class of vessel. In 2016, the first vessel, the "Fearless," cut its first steel plate and entered the substantive construction phase. The construction of the 2nd boat "Warrior" and the 3rd boat "Yanzhan" has started one after another, while the 4th boat "King George VI" has not yet officially started. The project is expected to drive a comprehensive upgrade of the UK defense industry chain, creating approximately 30000 job opportunities and benefiting around 1500 suppliers. The British military has high hopes for the still infant Dreadnought class nuclear submarine. The current situation of the British nuclear submarine force can be summarized as' limited quantity and poor condition '. Four strategic nuclear submarines are the minimum number required to maintain nuclear deterrence. To ensure combat readiness, they can only take turns on duty: one cruise duty, one port standby, one maintenance and repair, and one combat recovery. This means that once a submarine experiences unplanned failures, it will cause other submarines to extend their duty hours, thereby increasing the probability of failure and aging rate, and ultimately falling into a vicious cycle. The British military currently has four Vanguard class nuclear submarines in service, with the shortest service life reaching 25 years. According to the design service life, they should be prepared to enter retirement procedures. However, the new boats are still not in place, and the old boats can only delay retirement and even have to work overtime, which is an important reason for the frequent failures and accidents of the avant-garde class in recent years. The design specification for the continuous cruising time of the Vanguard class nuclear submarine is not more than 90 days. However, in 2022, two Vanguard class ships set a record of 157 days of ultra long continuous cruising. In September 2023, this record was broken again to 195 days. On March 21st of this year, British Prime Minister Stammer inspected the recently completed 204 day cruise of the "Vanguard" and met with the crew and their families accompanied by Defense Secretary Healy. This is the first time in over a decade that the British Prime Minister has inspected a top secret nuclear submarine. Commentators believe that this visit occurred on the eve of the "Willingness Alliance" meeting hosted by Stamer to assist Ukraine, and was connected with the laying of the keel of the Dreadnought class first submarine, reflecting the British government's urgent need to demonstrate its nuclear deterrence strength and update its strategic nuclear submarine in the face of increasingly tense regional and international situations. The outlook is hard to say optimistic. Currently, the British Navy has listed the development of the Dreadnought class nuclear submarine as its top priority task. The public opinion generally holds a cautious attitude towards this, believing that the project is difficult to overcome multiple troubles. One is the lack of financial support. On February 25th, Stamer announced that the current Labour government will launch the largest military spending growth plan in the UK since the end of the Cold War. By 2027, the proportion of military spending to GDP will increase from the current 2.3% to 2.5%. However, in order to increase military spending, the UK government will reduce the proportion of development aid expenditure to GDP from 0.5% to 0.3% in 2027. This move of "robbing one wall to make up for another" reflects the poor financial situation of the UK and the large variability of military spending. The comments suggest that if the UK invests limited funds in the construction of new submarines, it is likely to affect the funding for the normal operation of existing ships. Secondly, there are doubts about the potential for research and development. At present, the UK's economy is mainly supported by the tertiary industry such as finance and services, with the proportion of industry continuously declining and military production capacity gradually shrinking. Comparing the music industry and shipbuilding industry in the UK, it can be found that live concerts will drive 62000 jobs in 2023, while the shipbuilding industry will only bring in 42600 jobs. The shortage of skilled workers, the reluctance of newly employed personnel to enter factories, and the long-term shortage of orders in the barely surviving shipbuilding industry have made it difficult for the UK to break out of the vicious cycle of "delay (schedule) - increase (expenditure) - decrease (performance quality)" in weapon research and development. Thirdly, there is a significant shortage of personnel. The enthusiasm of the British people to join the military is not high, and currently the total number of personnel in the British Navy and Marine Corps is less than 38000. Due to a shortage of personnel, the British army had to retire some of its warships. Many key positions lack successors, and even with new boats in service, it is difficult to allocate enough qualified crew members in a short period of time. The British military also faces the problem of low personnel quality, especially the nuclear submarine unit, which often exposes scandals such as misconduct and poor management. (New Society)