Britain's defense ministry has awarded a 1.1 billion pound ($1.7 billion) contract to Rolls-Royce to deliver reactor cores for the UK's submarine fleet. The ministry said Monday that about 500 million pounds will be spent to update the Rolls-Royce reactor core manufacturing plant in Derby in central England, according to a report of the Associated Press. The remainder of the contract is for two reactor cores. One will be for the seventh and last of the Astute class submarines. The other will be for the so-called Successor class, intended to replace Britain's Vanguard submarines. The first Successor-class submarine is to be delivered in 2028. Rolls-Royce shares were up 1 percent in morning trading in London.
