Today the all-party group of MPs that comprise the APPG on shipbuilding publish their report examining the state of the industry in light of the National Shipbuilding Strategy adopted in September 2017.
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Yesterday the chairman of the House of Commons Defence Committee (HCDC), Julian Lewis sent a strongly-worded letter to the Minister of State for Defence Procurement, Stuart Andrew demanding clarification as to why the Fleet Solid Support Ships (FSS) are being classified as “non-combatants”. Pressure is mounting on the government to build these ships, that will be vital to supporting RN global operations, in the UK.
Unable to follow up their success building OPVs for export, and with no other orders forthcoming, last week Babcock made the sad announcement that the Appledore shipyard will close in March 2019. Here we examine the background and potential impacts of this decision.
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RFA Fort Victoria is currently mid-way through a major refit at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead. The usual maintenance and machinery overhauls are being conducted but she is also being modified to provide solid stores replenishment to the aircraft carriers.More
In a previous article we discussed the importance of the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships to the future of the RN. Here we focus more on the industrial aspects of the project and look at why building these ships in the UK is the only sensible way forward.More
The 2015 SDSR confirmed the intention to build 3 new solid stores support ships. This kind of logistic support vessel is critical to the global reach of the RN but are low profile and do not get the focus of attention given to warships. Government commitment to build the new ships is positive but entirely lacking in urgency, the first ship will probably not be ready for sea until around 2025.