The crucial vessels, which will deliver ammunition,
food and supplies to UK forces across the globe, will
work alongside the Royal Navy’s fleet of warships and
will be an important part of the UK Maritime Task
Group.
The British consortium is made up of leading
manufacturing and engineering companies Babcock, BAE
Systems, Cammell Laird and Rolls-Royce.
They join Italian firm Fincantieri, Spanish company
Navantia, Japan Marine United Corporation, and Daewoo
Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering of South Korea as
the five successful firms who have been invited to
submit a tender for the competition.
Defence Minister said:
The widespread interest in this competition shows
that our Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary remain
among the most prestigious in the world.
These support ships will be vital for supporting our
formidable Queen Elizabeth Class carriers and will
ensure our warships can deploy in a range of
challenging environments and across huge distances,
wherever they are in the world.
The five companies, which were selected from eight
interested firms, will now develop bids before a final
decision is made regarding the winning bidder in 2020.
The Fleet Solid Support ships, up to three of which
will be procured through international competition as
they are not warships, will be fitted with specialist
and classified equipment at a British shipyard before
entering service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary from
2026.
Shipyards across the United Kingdom will be able to bid
for this work in 2022.
As part of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the vessels will
be civilian-manned and carry self-defence weapons only.
