BAE Systems has been awarded a £5.9 billion ($7.8 billion) contract by the British Government to advance work on the country's next generation of nuclear-armed submarines, the company said late on Wednesday.
The contract involves work on the next phase of Britain's Dreadnought class of submarines, BAE Systems said in a statement.
It is part of a wider £8.4 billion package approved by parliament for the defence ministry to fund Britain's continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham will announce the investment on Thursday on a visit to BAE's Barrow-in-Furness shipyard in northwest England, where the new submarines are being built, a separate statement by the government said.
Four Dreadnought submarines are on order, with the first due to be delivered to the Royal Navy in the early 2030s.
The new boats will replace the ageing Vanguard fleet, it said.
The contract will support tens of thousands of jobs and thousands of companies across the UK supply chain, including 22,000 apprenticeships by 2035, the government said.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)