[7] In November 2022, MSubs Ltd was awarded a £15.4m contract to build an XLUUV (Extra Large Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle) vessel which is to be delivered to the Royal Navy within two years.

[20] Following an 18-month consultation starting in September 2021, the design was renamed SSN-AUKUS in March 2023 when Australia joined the programme and additional US technology was incorporated, both as part of the AUKUS agreement.

[8] The British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in March 2023 that the UK would boost defense spending by additional £5 billion over two years, some of which would go towards funding "the next phase of the AUKUS submarine programme.

[24] The SSN-AUKUS class will be powered by a Rolls-Royce pressurised water reactor (PWR), manufactured at an expanded Rolls Royce Raynesway site in Derby.

[27][28] In October 2023, the UK government announced a series of contracts with BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Babcock, collectively worth £4 billion, to support the design and development of the submarine class up to 2028.

[29][30] The Royal Australian Navy will acquire five SSN-AUKUS class boats that will be built at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia.

[32][33] The Royal Australian Navy boats will be built by a joint venture between ASC, who constructed and maintain the Collins class, and BAE Systems.

[40] In March 2023, Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead, head of the Australian Nuclear Powered Submarine Task Force, said the SSN-AUKUS design was "about 70 per cent mature".

[43] In November 2023, Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said the submarines would use an "evolved" version of the AN/BYG1 Combat Management System in use with the Virginia-class and Collins-class and will be armed with Mk-48 torpedoes.