Multi-Role Support Ship (MRSS) [UK]

Snapshot

In May 2024, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps approved the procurement of six new Multi-Role Support Ships to replace the current amphibious fleet.

Shephard estimates that a $9.4  billion contract will be awarded by 2026/2027, with deliveries occurring in the mid-2030s, replacing the Albion-class ships.

Additional Information

Programme Background

Requirements

According to the UK MoD's March 2021 Defence Command Paper, entitled 'Defence in a Competitive Age', the RN will invest in six Multi-Role Support Ships (MRSS) to provide Littoral Strike in the early 2030s. This timeline aligned with Shephard's predicted original out-of-service dates for the Albion-class LPDs.

It appears, from various reports, the Littoral Strike Ships (LSS) will be sacrificed to allow the RN to acquire MRSS in larger numbers. As of July 2022, it has been confirmed that RFA Argus will be upgraded, and she will perform the role of LSS alongside a Bay-class ship.

The UK’s MRSS will feature a sea-to-land strike capability and be designed to operate in Littoral Response Groups (LRGs).

The new vessels are set to replace HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark - which, following the November 2024 announcement, will be scrapped - three other Bay-class platforms and support ship RFA Argus.

Although the final technical requirements of the MRSS have not been disclosed yet, the vessels are expected to be fitted with a well deck for landing craft and unmanned systems, a flight deck, a hangar capable of accommodating drones and Chinook-sized helicopters, and some AAW capabilities.

The vessels will be required to operate at 360 degrees in the amphibious operations spectrum, and the Royal Navy is said to be looking to acquire a vessel capable of operating as a stand-alone platform in highly contested environments, thus fitted with a range of weapons and sensors for self-defence.

According to Navy Lookout, the C3 and medical capabilities will not be carried on the ship concurrently, and MRSS will designed to be modular so medical facilities can be swapped out for command facilities. This will most likely be achieved through PODS/containerised solutions.

Timeline

The 2022-2032 Defence Equipment Plan does not include funding for the programme.

The NAO Report on the Equipment Plan 2022-2032, published by the National Audit Office in November 2022, stated that "in July 2022, Navy Command withdrew its plans for the MRSS because of concerns about unaffordability. The revised costing profile is likely to be significantly higher." The programme has likely been postponed.

In light of the recent developments, the target of having new littoral strike capabilities in the early 2030s seems to be at risk. Failure to replace in time the two Albion-class LPDs, the three Bay-class and RFA Argus (which will be upgraded to become the next Littoral Strike Ship), with the six MRSS would create a significant capability gap in the UK's amphibious capability.

In June 2023, London and The Hague agreed to explore opportunities to collaboratively develop a future littoral strike platform that will support the commando forces of both nations. A statement of intent will see the Netherlands and the UK work together to understand joint requirements and timelines for the UK’s Multi-Role Support Ships (MRSS) and Dutch Landing Platform.

According to Janes, the UK and the Netherlands will decide at the start of 2024 if there is sufficient alignment in their respective replacement amphibious ship programmes to pursue a joint acquisition programme.

At DIMDEX 2024, a spokesperson from Damen told Shephard that discussions are ongoing with the UK. Shephard understands that the idea is to develop two different designs tailored to the UK and the Netherlands' needs that feature similarities in propulsion, sensors and bridge arrangement.

On 9 April 2024, in response to the A-letter that was sent in March, a technical briefing took place at the Dutch House of Representatives. During the presentation, it was mentioned that significant differences with the UK Royal Navy have emerged. The budget and the requirements are very different between the two navies, meaning that a single class of identical ships cannot be built. However, synergies with the UK can still be achieved in other areas, such as the procurement of common subsystems and the capability of operating the same landing craft and aerial systems.

In May 2024, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps gave the go-ahead for the procurement of six new Multi-Role Support Ships that will replace all of the current amphibious fleet.

Contenders & Bidders

BMT

The company provides the ELLIDA, a multi-role logistics ship designed to provide the capabilities needed in future global operations. Multiple media outlets have linked this vessel to the MRSS programme. 

In addition to this, at DSEI 2021, BMT revealed its Highly Autonomous Warship Technology thought leadership programme. The programme aims to understand and enable philosophies behind future lean crewed warships enabled by autonomy. While not a physical product, the project offers a view of how manufacturers can integrate AI and intelligent systems into the design of naval vessels and process ever-increasing quantities of data. BMT may offer these concepts for the MRSS programme in the future. 

Prevail Partners

The company's Multi-Role Vessel (MRV) is another potential platform for the MRSS programme. The MRSS vessels described in the print version of the March 2021 Command Paper are similar to the capabilities of the MRV, suggesting Prevail could potentially offer the platform for the programme. 

Prevail Partners has stated that if the UK ordered MRV vessels, more than half of the value would be delivered by the UK industry through conversion work at a shipyard chosen by Prevail.

The MRV is based on an FSG 4100 Roll-on Roll-off vessel and originally formed the catalyst for the UK's Littoral Strike Ship (LSS) concept, a procurement programme that has been reduced in scope as mentioned above.

Steller Systems

Steller Systems has developed an MRSS concept proposal called Fearless.

Other potential bidders

Considering the requirements and magnitude of the programme, Shephard believes that other potential contenders could be BAE Systems, Babcock, Cammell Laird, Harland and Wolff, Navantia UK (working on a design similar to the JSS pitched to Australia), and Damen (with its Enforcer series of vessels).

Contracts Award

According to a Royal Navy statement, the UK MoD has entered the first, or concept, phase of the MRSS Programme and will work with industry as part of early market engagement ahead of developing the vessel design. Market engagement is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Considering that the current amphibious ships need to be replaced starting from 2033/2034, Shephard estimates a contract has to be awarded by the end of 2026/early 2027 to avoid any capability gap.

Forecast Methodology 

Quantity

Up to six vessels will be built, although it is possible that the ships will be procured in two batches of three.

Programme Value & Unit Cost

Considering the abovementioned forecasted characteristics of the ships, Shephard believes the MRSS will have a displacement of no less than 20,000t. Based on a cost-per-tonne model, the vessels will have an estimated unit cost of $1.6 billion. This yields a programme value of $9.4 billion.

Programme Years

Programme Years have been calculated by spreading the unit cost value across the estimated construction period of each vessel.

Construction & Delivery Timeline

Shephard estimates a 20,000t LPD design similar to the San Antonio-class, has an average three-year construction period, with a further one to two years between launch and commissioning. Should construction start in 2028, the lead ship could enter service around 2033.

Please note that this is a highly speculative timeline and may not represent the likelihood of the programme advancing at that speed.