Submarine revelations should be a wake-up call to ministers about defence supply chains

On too many occasions, Russia has slipped through the cracks despite numerous steps to limit its access

It beggars belief that, at a time when Sir Keir Starmer has identified Russia as posing a “generational threat” to our security, engineers working on the Royal Navy’s fleet of nuclear submarines are using computer software that may have been accessed by the Kremlin.
Britain’s nuclear submarines not only play a critical role in safeguarding our national security from hostile powers such as Russia. They also maintain the nuclear deterrent, with the current fleet of four Vanguard nuclear submarines on 24/7 undersea patrols with the ability to deliver a devastating response in the event of the UK coming under nuclear attack.
The importance of preserving this pillar of the UK’s national defence infrastructure is reflected in the fact that the Government is investing tens of billions of pounds in building a new fleet of Dreadnought nuclear submarines and missile systems designed to deter potential aggressors for the next 30-40 years.
Friday’s revelation, therefore, that the development of computer software for staff working on the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines was outsourced to engineers in Siberia and Belarus raises serious questions about their operational security.
Despite Ministry of Defence stipulations that such work should only be conducted by UK-based staff with the requisite security clearance, concerns have now been raised that the new software could have been exploited to reveal the location of Britain’s submarines, thereby giving hostile states such as Russia a vital advantage in the event of a future nuclear confrontation. 
Certainly, at a time when the UK and its allies have subjected Russia to a wide range of sanctions in response to its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, questions need to be asked why firms based in Belarus, which could have links to the Kremlin, have been allowed to work on such a sensitive area of Britain’s nuclear security.
Only last month, in his address to the Nato summit in Washington, Sir Keir gave an explicit warning that the “generational threat” posed by Russia and other hostile states meant that we were living in a “new and dangerous era… One defined by volatility and insecurity.”
But while the Government has taken numerous steps to limit the access of Russian businesses to the UK, there is mounting evidence that, on too many occasions, the measures are not being properly enforced, especially when it comes to limiting Russian access to the UK’s legal, financial and property sectors.
The suggestion, therefore, that firms operating in Russia and Belarus are working in such sensitive areas as the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet should serve as a wake-up call to ministers that, if they are really serious about confronting Moscow, they need to ensure that supply chains are secure.