Background Up until 2024, the Royal Navy operated two s for amphibious warfare which were augmented by three s and one support ship () from the
Royal Fleet Auxiliary. With the exception of
Argus, these ships were originally commissioned in the 2000s and designed to deliver a
brigade-level amphibious landing force. All six ships were due to retire from service in the 2030s, though, in November 2024, it was decided to retire the
Albion-class vessels early by March 2025. In the 2020s, the Royal Navy began a modernisation of its amphibious forces in accordance with its new
Future Commando Force doctrine which emphasized lighter, more agile
raiding operations for the
Royal Marines. The navy's amphibious shipping was subsequently reorganized into two formations, known as
Littoral Response Groups. In 2022, it was announced that
Argus would undergo modifications to allow her to fulfil a new role as a littoral strike ship. However, this role only lasted a short time as she was subsequently deemed "unsafe to sail" and taken out of service. In 2021, the UK government made its first official mention of the MRSS as part of its 2030 shipbuilding pipeline. In 2022, the ships were removed from the Royal Navy's future equipment plan due to issues of affordability. However, the navy insisted the ships remained part of its future plans. In March 2025, Defence Minister
Maria Eagle stated that the ships had been renamed Multi-Role Strike Ships to better reflect their functionalities as combat ships with offensive and defensive weaponry.
UK-Dutch cooperation In September 2023, the UK and the Netherlands signed a
memorandum of understanding announced to explore the joint procurement of amphibious warfare ships under Project CATHERINA. This could have seen the six Royal Navy's amphibious vessels and the
Royal Netherlands Navy's two landing platform docks and four offshore patrol vessels replaced with a single shared design. Such a venture would not only bring greater economy of scale but would also better solidify the programme politically by helping to protect from possible budget cuts.
MRSS commencement Following an announcement by Defence Secretary
Grant Shapps at the Sea Power Conference in London, the programme officially received approval to commence with its first phase on 14 May 2024. Currently, the MRSS's are planned to enter service in the 2033/34 period, with three ships to be built initially and a plan for up to three additional vessels. The ships are envisaged as flexible, multi-purpose amphibious warfare platforms, capable of landing marines ashore via sea and air. The ships will feature
well docks for
landing craft,
hangars capable of accommodating
Chinook helicopters and a
flight deck for helicopters and uncrewed systems. Lessons learned from the
Russo-Ukrainian War and the
Red Sea crisis will also factor in the design.
Design contenders Prior to the initiation of a formal competition, a number of designs have been raised as contenders for the MRSS programme. Following the commencement announcement in May, Shepard News reported that
BMT could offer their 'ELLIDA' product line whilst Prevail Partners may put forward with their 'Multi-Role Vessel' design.
ELLIDA Unveiled in 2019, the original concept design for ELLIDA was a multi-role auxiliary vessel designed to perform as both a solid stores ship for fleet
replenishment-at-sea (RAS) and as an auxiliary landing vessel similar in capability to the Bay class. At DSEI 2023, BMT unveiled a revised ELLIDA design. This second generation design consist of vessels , , , or in length. The revision saw the removal of the RAS rigs from the design and brought the superstructure more forward and reduced the size of the forward working deck. ELLIDA features two internal open deck areas for stores and other equipment as well as a forward external deck area for
twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers which is serviced by two deck cranes. BMT have not publicly stated if ELLIDA's general characteristics have changed from those of the first generation design which had (in reference to the 200 m variant) a range of , a service speed of and a crew of 68. In the amphibious role ELLIDA could embark a military force of 350 personnel with an internal 700
lane metres for vehicle stowage, a
well deck for two
Landing Craft Utility, and a hangar for one
AW101 Merlin with temporary storage for an additional three. The design represented a more radical approach to traditional amphibious vessel design by effectively creating a hybrid surface-combatant,
mothership, and amphibious vessel. The Fearless concept is in length, displaces at
full load, and has a range of at . It would be propelled by podded propellers with contra-rotating electrically driven shafts which, combined with an optimised hull, which would enable the ship to achieve whilst reportedly using less power than a
Type 23 frigate. Fearless features a significant armament, with the model displaying 40 strike/tactical length
vertical launch system (VLS) cells, and guns, two
Phalanx close-in weapon systems (CIWS), three guns, two
DragonFire laser directed-energy weapons (L-DEWs) and three trainable decoy launchers. The featured armament is said to allow a Fearless vessel to operate in heavily contested littoral areas. There is a working deck amidship capable of holding five containers or mission modules, docking stations for
uncrewed surface vessels, two boat bays, and has hangar space for two AW101 Merlins. The hangar has access to the vehicle deck with 800 lane metres of space. Notably, Fearless lacks a well deck, instead featuring a
stern ramp capable of handling craft up to in length, with a vehicle ramp that can deployed to support ground vehicles up to . Unlike a well deck, the ramp allows for drones, landing craft and other vessels to be embarked/disembarked in higher
sea states but would remove the ability to utilise the larger LSU, limiting shore landings to the
Mexeflote or Commando Insertion Craft (forthcoming
LCVP replacement). ==Assessment phase: core designs and capabilities==