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

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

Key Details

The confirmation 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."

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.

Ship 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
• Expected service entry: Early 2030s

Neither government has formally named the design.

Strategic Importance

For the Royal Navy, the ships address the gap left by the retirement of the landing platform docks HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, and the evolution of the earlier Multi-Role Strike Ship concept. The 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. The two fleets—whose amphibious forces have exercised and deployed together for more than five decades through the UK-Netherlands amphibious relationship—will be able 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. The amphibious programme is expected to support hundreds of high-skilled jobs alongside the thousands sustained by the Norwegian frigate order.

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.