England (Commonwealth Union)_The Royal Navy has chosen an Anglo-Spanish industrial team as its top contender to construct a fleet of logistical ships to support the service’s new aircraft carriers. Shipbuilder Harland and Wolff of Belfast, Northern Ireland, renowned British warship designer BMT, and Spanish company Navantia, collectively known as Team Resolute, were named the winners of a competition to construct three sizable support vessels on Wednesday. The first of the three ships in the £1.6 billion ($1.9 billion) program, known as Fleet Solid Support ships, is expected to begin construction in 2025, and all three are expected to be operational by 2032.
The 216-meter-long ships, which will be managed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the support branch of the Royal Navy, will be used to supply ammunition, supplies, and rations to two new aircraft carriers, destroyers, and frigates that are being deployed at sea. The Treasury and ministerial approval are still required for the deal. The question of whether the ships should be open to foreign competition or should only be built in Britain has long been at the heart of a dispute between the government, on the one hand, and unions and the Labour opposition, on the other.
The Conservatives even went so far as to declare at one time that they had to accept foreign bids because of EU regulations even though the logistics ships weren’t considered to be warships. Before the government’s fall budget release on November 17, which is anticipated to provide bad news for defense generally, there has been a spending frenzy aimed at bolstering important British marine capabilities. The previous administration, led by Liz Truss, had pledged to increase defense expenditure to 3% of GDP, but the new prime minister Rishi Sunak has already made it plain that this goal has been abandoned, at least temporarily. Given that inflation is already chewing through the budget at a rate of over 11%, further funds are unlikely to be found to strengthen British defense capabilities.
