The Royal Navy has announced its plans for the incorporation of six new state-of-the-art amphibious vessels for its Royal Marines. These vessels, also known as Multi-Role Support Ships (or MRSS), will be constructed domestically to replace the current amphibious ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark between the years 2033 and 2034.
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It is expected that these future ships will be characterized by their operational versatility, being capable of transporting and deploying land vehicles, fast boats, aircraft, and even various types of unmanned systems. In addition to these projection capabilities, the MRSS will feature medical facilities to address emergency cases arising from troop deployment or to operate in humanitarian assistance missions as needed.
Regarding this, the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Ben Key, made the following statements: “I am delighted that the Secretary of State has secured the future of our Royal Marines by committing to this new class of up to six amphibious ships (…) These will be the most capable amphibious warships the nation has ever owned, designed to be fully interoperable with our closest allies in Europe and NATO.”
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These plans by the Royal Navy are part of a much larger project to enhance the naval capabilities of the United Kingdom, which, in the words of Sarah Kenny, the former president of the industry association Maritime UK, aims to become “the most competitive maritime nation in the world by 2050”. The strategy received a significant economic boost with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcements, approving funds of over £75 billion ($94 billion) in defense investment to be disbursed over the next six years, raising British military spending to 2.5% of GDP.
This, in turn, provides context to the announced retirement of two Type 23 frigates, namely, HMS Westminster and HMS Argyll; the former being decommissioned and the latter sold to BAE Systems to be used in employee training. The retired Type 23s will be replaced by new Type 26 and Type 31 ships currently under construction in shipyards in Scotland. When adding the construction of Dreadnought and Astute class submarines at the Barrow shipyards, and the orders for the six amphibious vessels to be built in Belfast and Devon, the British naval industry finds itself in what Defense Minister Shapps calls a “new golden age”.
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It should be noted that this roadmap has been heavily influenced by the various conflicts of today. The aforementioned budget increase announcement is inseparable from the general rearmament that NATO nations have undertaken to varying degrees in response to Russia’s advance on its neighbor Ukraine; while for the design of the new frigates, lessons learned from the operations the Royal Navy has been conducting in the Red Sea have been taken into account. In the words of Minister Shapps: “Our operations in the Red Sea have demonstrated that to address the growing threats to freedom of navigation, we must be able to engage targets at sea, in the air, and on land”.
*Images used for illustrative purposes.
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