A concept for the UK Royal Navy’s future Multi-Role Support Ships (MRSS) will come about by mid-2025.
Although this comes nearly four years after the class was first announced in the government’s 2021 Defence White Paper, the ships could not come soon enough as Britain’s surface fleet has been culled in that time.
Now all that is left to carry the burden of supporting Royal Marines in littoral operations around the world are three civilian-operated Bay-class dock landing ships after the new Labour government announced the retirement of two Albion-class ships in November 2024.
Furthermore, it is likely the temporary vessels will need to be upgraded and recertified to fill the capability gap until the first MRSS unit is available in 2033. By that time the Bay-class, which entered service in the mid-2000s, will approach a quarter of a century of active service.
Nevertheless, in a parliamentary written response on 9 January 2025, the Minister for Defence Procurement, Maria Eagle, confirmed that an Outline Business Case is underway and is scheduled to be submitted in the middle of this year.
The document will “detail the schedule for future contract award milestones” and begin “shifting to the Assessment Phase in 2026.”
At present, MRSS in the early conceptual stage. The Royal Navy and Defence Equipment and Support – the procurement arm of the Ministry of Defence – are conducting detailed work on key user requirements, conceptual designs, affordability, and exportability assessments.
High-level discussions between officials in the UK and Dutch governments considered forming a collaborative procurement programme for the MRSS platform at the end of June 2023. However, this depended on reviewing their respective joint requirements and expected timelines.
MRSS concept is a tall order
Six MRSS vessels will replace the decommissioned Albion-class and the ageing Bay-class. This means that the future platform must be highly versatile in replacing the two different classes.
“The Multi-Role Support Ship design will need to incorporate the twin needs of enabling an initial amphibious landing and supporting an extant bridgehead, as well as having a ight deck for helicopters, and defensive armament,” observed James Rogers in a report published by the Council of Geostrategy last year.
“The new design would also offer an opportunity to embed an uncrewed system capability, particularly aerial, the potential for amphibious platforms – with their ample space, flight deck, and command and control systems – makes them a promising ‘mothership’ to multiply a variety of systems.”
The report recommended that the government prioritise MRSS to ensure the programme delivers a strong design that fully encapsulates all the capabilities of both classes without significant delay.
With plans set to get a first impression ready by the middle of this year, this will put pressure on the Navy and shipbuilders to deliver an all-encompassing concept.
