Atomic Weapons Establishment

Atomic Weapons Establishment
AWE logo

Aerial view of AWE Aldermaston during 2009
Non-departmental public body overview
Formed1987; 37 years ago (1987)
Preceding agencies
  • Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE)
  • Royal Ordnance Factories (ROF) Burghfield and Cardiff
JurisdictionUnited Kingdom
HeadquartersAldermaston, Berkshire, England
51°22′09.3″N 1°08′25.9″W / 51.369250°N 1.140528°W / 51.369250; -1.140528
Non-departmental public body executives
Parent departmentMinistry of Defence
Website

The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is a United Kingdom Ministry of Defence research facility responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the UK's nuclear weapons. It is the successor to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE) with its main site on the former RAF Aldermaston and has major facilities at Burghfield, Blacknest and RNAD Coulport.

AWE plc, responsible for the day-to-day operations of AWE, is owned by the Ministry of Defence and operated as a non-departmental public body.

Until June 2021, AWE plc was owned by a consortium of Jacobs Engineering Group, Lockheed Martin UK, and Serco through AWE Management Ltd, which held a 25‑year contract (until March 2025) to operate AWE, although all the sites remained owned by the Government of the United Kingdom which had a golden share in AWE plc.[1] In November 2020, it was announced that the Ministry of Defence had triggered a contractual break point and would take ownership of AWE Plc in July 2021.[2][3]

The establishment is the final destination for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament's Aldermaston Marches march from Trafalgar Square, London. The first Aldermaston March was conceived by the Direct Action Committee and took place in 1958.

  1. ^ "Our company". AWE. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Written Ministerial Statement". UK Government. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Secretary of State for Defence Statement to Parliament". UK Government. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.