UK, Netherlands sign £2.4bn deal to build eight amphibious transport ships

Overview

Eight new amphibious transport ships will form the combined UK-Netherlands amphibious fleet, with four vessels operated by each nation and all of them built in British shipyards under a £2.4 billion deal, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

Ministerial Confirmation

The detail, confirming earlier remarks, came in a written answer from Defence Minister Luke Pollard to Conservative MP Stuart Anderson, who asked what the new combined fleet with the Netherlands will include.

"British and Dutch forces are set to be equipped with new amphibious transport ships under a new maritime partnership. Based on a Dutch design, the ships will be built in UK shipyards alongside Dutch industry as part of a £2.4 billion deal, which is expected to support hundreds of high-skilled UK jobs," Pollard said, as quoted in the answer. "The new ships will form the backbone of a strengthened UK-Netherlands amphibious force, with each nation operating four vessels."

Partnership Background

The answer consolidates the shape of the partnership signed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara earlier this month.

Key Specifications

• Length: Approximately 160 metres
• Displacement: 15,000 tonnes
• Capabilities: Carry troops, vehicles, and equipment including drones
• Flight decks: Designed to operate current and future long-range uncrewed systems in support of the Royal Navy's transition to a hybrid fleet
• Service entry: Expected from the early 2030s

Neither government has formally named the design.

Strategic Significance for the Royal Navy

For the Royal Navy, the ships answer the question left open by:

• The retirement of the landing platform docks HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark
• The evolution of the earlier Multi-Role Strike Ship concept

The new vessels will restore a dedicated amphibious flotilla around which the Royal Marines' littoral strike posture can be built. Operating an identical class to the Royal Netherlands Navy is central to the plan, allowing the two fleets—whose amphibious forces have exercised and deployed together for more than five decades through the UK-Netherlands amphibious relationship—to train, deploy, and sustain their ships in common, along with the drone and uncrewed technology the two nations intend to develop together.

Industrial Arrangement

The industrial arrangement mirrors the model struck with Norway on the Type 26, in which foreign partners buy into British-built hulls. The Government has presented the run of deals as evidence of a shipbuilding sector winning export-scale work, with the amphibious programme expected to support hundreds of high-skilled jobs alongside the thousands sustained by the Norwegian frigate order.

Shipyard Selection

Which yards will build the ships has not been announced—a decision that will be watched closely across a sector with Type 26 and Type 31 production concentrated on the Clyde and at Rosyth, and capacity questions live elsewhere.