A fleet solid support ship is a
type of
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported by ...
(RFA) ship designed to supply solids (otherwise known as dry stores), such as ammunition, explosives and food, to
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
ships at sea. The term can also refer to the programme to replace the RFA's existing solid support ships, the
Fleet Solid Support Ship Programme The Fleet Solid Support Ship Programme (FSSP) aims to deliver up to three fleet solid support ships to the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The ships will be used to provide underway replenishment of dry stores, such as ammunition, spare parts and sup ...
.
Current ships
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary currently operates one solid support ship of the , .
As of 2021, the former s ( and ) have been retired and only ''Fort Victoria'' has undergone refit to enable her to supply the Royal Navy's new s with solid stores. With incompatible rigs, ''Fort Rosalie'' and ''Fort Austin'' were placed in extended readiness and were later sold to Egypt. A programme to replace these ships, named the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) Fleet Solid Support (FSS), commenced in 2017, but was delayed in 2019.
In May 2021, the competition was restarted with the aim of selecting a design within two years.
Future ships
![Fleet Solid Support Ship Proposal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Fleet_Solid_Support_Ship_Proposal.jpg)
With the introduction of the ''Queen Elizabeth''-class aircraft carriers, a new class of solid support ship will be required to replace the existing ageing and incompatible Fort class.
The
Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 was published by the British government during the second Cameron ministry on 23 November 2015 to outline the United Kingdom's defence strategy up to 2025. It identified k ...
confirmed that three new large solid support ships would be acquired for the RFA as part of the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) Fleet Solid Support (FSS) programme. Rear Admiral Paul Marshall was appointed its Senior Responsible Officer in February 2019.
The National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) released in September 2017 stipulated that the design and construction of these ships would be subject to an international competition pitting UK firms against those overseas in order to encourage competitiveness.
Classified as "non-warships", the vessels were required to be tendered internationally as per Article 346 of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is one of two treaties forming the Treaties of the European Union, constitutional basis of the European Union (EU), the other being the Treaty on European Union (TEU). It was previously ...
(TFEU).
This received opposition from political parties, including
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
and the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
, as well as trade unions, such as
GMB and the
Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions
The Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions (CSEU), often known as the Confed is a trade union confederation in the United Kingdom.
History
The confederation was founded in December 1890 as the Federation of Engineering and Shipbuil ...
, who criticized the potential loss of work for British shipyards. They recommended that the ships be reclassified as "warships" and therefore exempt from the treaty, allowing them to be built in British shipyards.
[ ]Sir John Parker
Sir Thomas John Parker, (born 8 April 1942) is a British businessman. He is chairman of Laing O'Rourke and former chairman of Pennon Group, a director of Carnival Corporation & plc and lead non-executive director at the Cabinet Office. He has ...
, whose recommendations formed the basis for the National Shipbuilding Strategy, also criticized the government's approach as "not the right strategic approach" and recommended that "UK-only competition should be considered for future defence-funded vessels".
In 2018, a contract notice was placed for two solid support ships, with a probable option of a third later. The ships required a total cargo capacity of up to , the ability to travel at a sustained speed of without resupply, the capability of delivering non-bulk logistic material whilst underway at and transfer single loads of up to . A list of bidders was subsequently selected with a British consortium consisting of Babcock
Babcock is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Alpheus Babcock (1785–1842), American piano and musical instrument maker
* Audrey Babcock American operatic mezzo-soprano
*Barbara Babcock (born 1937), American actress
* ...
, BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...
, Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
and Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
, as well as international bidders consisting of Fincantieri
Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...
(Italy), Navantia
Navantia is a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company, which offers its services to both military and civil sectors. It is the fifth-largest shipbuilder in Europe and the ninth-largest in the world with shipyards around the globe. The heir to t ...
(Spain), Japan Marine United Corporation
(informally JMU) is a Japanese ship building marine engineering and service company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan.
It's Japan’s second largest shipbuilder after Imabari Shipbuilding, with shipyard facilities in Kure, Hiroshima, Yokohama, ...
(Japan) and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering
Hanwha Ocean Co., Ltd. (), formerly known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME; ), is one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea, along with Hyundai and Samsung.
History
On 21 February 2011, the A. P. Moller-Mae ...
(DSME) (South Korea). Fincantieri and DSME later withdrew from the bid, however Fincantieri later rejoined.
On 5 November 2019, the competition was suspended to ensure "requirements could be met" and a "value for money solution found", which raised hope from trade unions that the competition could be restarted and involve only UK shipyards.
On 21 September 2020, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace Ben Wallace most commonly refers to:
*Ben Wallace (basketball) (born 1974), American basketball player
*Ben Wallace (politician) (born 1970), British Secretary of State for Defence
Ben Wallace may also refer to:
* Benjamin Wallace (circus owner) (1 ...
stated the vessels were "warships", effectively confirming they would be built in the United Kingdom. On 21 October 2020, it was announced that the competition for the FSS will be re-started in Spring 2021, covering three ships and it will be an international competition but the team must be a led by a British company. In May 2021 the competition to build the ships was relaunched with the aim of taking a decision within two years. In July 2022, Rear-Admiral Paul Marshall, the Senior Responsible Officer for the Fleet Solid Support ship project, told the House of Commons Select Defence Committee that the first ship was envisaged for service entry in 2028 with the third entering service by 2032. In November 2022 it was announced that Team Resolute (BMT, Harland & Wolff and Navantia) had been selected to build the ships with the start of construction anticipated in 2025. Subject to meeting final approvals, the actual manufacturing contract was expected in the first quarter of 2023.
The Team Resolute design envisages a vessel about in length with three replenishment-at-sea rigs and possessing about of cargo space. The ship hangars will have the capacity to support two Merlin helicopters as well as unmanned aerial vehicles
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...
. Vessel speed is envisaged at .
See also
* Tide-class tanker - replenishment tankers which are also part of the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) programme.
References
{{Reflist
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Ship types
United Kingdom defence procurement