Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps he has taken to progress the conversion of a Bay class support ship to deliver a more agile and lethal littoral strike capability.
Answer
The Royal Navy has reviewed design and costing options for upgrading amphibious shipping in support of the UK's Commando Forces.
It has been decided that extending in service and upgrading RFA ARGUS and operating her alongside our Landing Ship Docking (Auxiliary)s in their current configuration, represents the optimum solution to support a forward deployed Littoral Response Group. This will provide a sustainable air manoeuvre, surface manoeuvre and command and control capability with the ability to manage availability as platforms undergo maintenance. The extension of RFA ARGUS also sustains Defence's Role 3 afloat medical capability.
The lessons from this analysis, and from operating these platforms forward in the coming years, will inform the procurement of the Multi-Role Support Ship which will replace the capabilities embodied in these platforms in the future.