•Edited 4h ago
New UK-Netherlands maritime partnership set to strengthen NATO and back UK shipbuilding – GOV.UK
In terms of specific information, it has been revealed so far that:
- The UK will procure four ships.
- The Netherlands will procure four ships.
- The ships will be roughly 160m in length.
- The ships will be roughly 15,000t in displacement.
Now, no bones about it, this is a direct cut in planned British amphibious capability. Previously, it had been expected that the RN would replace six older amphibious vessels – HMS Albion, Bulwark and RFA Lyme Bay, Mounts Bay, Cardigan Bay and Argus – with six new large amphibious vessels under the Multi-Role Strike Ship (MRSS) programme.
However, after the 2026 Defence Investment Plan deemed MRSS to be ‘too complex’ and not reflective of the planned UK Commando Force, the programme was cancelled.
Ironically, the replacement for the MRSS is a collaboration with the Dutch, which had actually previously been tried, but was deemed to not be suitable for British requirements. Since then, those requirements have clearly been reduced.
These new vessels might be based upon Damen’s Enforcer LPD, and in particular, the Enforcer 15628 variant, which fits the measurements given by the British MoD.
However, these ships are not only smaller than the Albion-class LPDs, but actually also significantly smaller than the heavily-used and greatly appreciated Bay-class LPDs, which currently form the entire British amphibious shipping capability.
Some commentators seem to believe that a through-deck ship, particularly an expanded variant of the Portuguese NRP D. João II, a multi-purpose vessel. This is unlikely; the enlarged version of the design offered by Damen is still very small at just 9000t. I believe much of the confusion has been caused by Navy Lookout’s liberal use of AI to depict such a vessel in this article. However, a through-deck ship itself definitely is a possibility, and reportedly something that the Dutch have repeatedly mentioned. This would require a new design, though.
This style of joint-fleet is a method that the UK is leaning into heavily in recent years. A simple frigate sale to Norway has morphed into a ‘joint frigate force’, with a similar thing forming between the UK, Germany and Norway with regards to the maritime patrol aircraft groups. If they work, the interoperability of such groups is a boon for responsiveness and flexibility, though such arrangements will inevitably face criticism from those who depict them as a loss of sovereignty or an opportunity to cut numbers (as it is here).