Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what change to the global geostrategic situation outlined in the Integrated Review Refresh 2023: Responding to a more contested and volatile world, published on 13 March, has led to the decision to have no operational Landing Platform Dock ships in the Royal Navy.
Answer
The Royal Navy will continue to operate a credible Landing Platform Dock (LPD) capability, through its Bay class Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary) (LSD(A)), until the operational return of the Albion class Landing Platform Dock (LPD) ships, with HMS Bulwark.
The LPD and LSD(A) platforms are interchangeable in function by degrees of scale, each complements the other and both together constitute our core amphibious delivery capability when combined for maximal amphibious effect. To enable the sustained forward presence of the Littoral Response Group’s (LRG) in the coming years, both classes of ship will be pulsed into the deployment of the LRGs around their respective refit cycles.