The advent of the
Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers necessitated the development of a new class of solid support vessels to succeed the current, outdated, and incompatible
Fort Rosalie-class replenishment ships. The
Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 affirmed the acquisition of three new large solid support vessels for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) as a component of the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) Fleet Solid Support (FSS) initiative. In February 2019,
Rear Admiral Paul Marshall was designated as the Senior Responsible Officer for this project. The National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), which was published in September 2017, mandated that the design and construction of these vessels would undergo an international competition, allowing UK companies to compete with foreign firms to foster competitiveness. Designated as
"non-warships", these vessels were mandated to be tendered on an international basis in accordance with Article 346 of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This faced resistance from various political parties, notably the
Labour and the
Scottish National Party, along with
trade unions like
GMB and the
Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions. They expressed concerns regarding the possible job losses for British shipyards. Their suggestion was to reclassify the ships as "
warships", thereby exempting them from the treaty and permitting their construction in British shipyards. In 2018, a contract notice was placed for two solid support ships, with a probable option of a third later. The ships required a total cargo capacity of up to , the ability to travel at a sustained speed of without resupply, the capability of delivering non-bulk logistic material whilst underway at and transfer single loads of up to . A list of bidders was subsequently selected with a British consortium consisting of
Babcock,
BAE Systems,
Cammell Laird and
Rolls-Royce, as well as international bidders consisting of
Fincantieri (Italy),
Navantia (Spain),
Japan Marine United Corporation (Japan) and
Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) (South Korea). Fincantieri and DSME later withdrew from the bid, however Fincantieri later rejoined. On 5 November 2019, the competition was suspended to ensure "requirements could be met" and a "value for money solution found", which raised hope from trade unions that the competition could be restarted and involve only UK shipyards. On 21 October 2020, it was announced that the competition for the FSS would be re-started in Spring 2021, covering three ships and it will be an international competition but the team must be a led by a British company. In May 2021 the competition to build the ships was relaunched with the aim of taking a decision within two years. In July 2022, Rear-Admiral Paul Marshall, the Senior Responsible Officer for the Fleet Solid Support ship project, told the
House of Commons Defence Select Committee that the first ship was envisaged for service entry in 2028 with the third entering service by 2032. In November 2022 it was announced that Team Resolute (BMT, Harland & Wolff and Navantia) had been selected to build the ships with the start of construction anticipated in 2025. The manufacturing contract, with a value of £1.6 billion, was signed in January 2023. It was subsequently indicated by the Ministry of Defence that the first ship's operational availability would now not be until 2031. The Team Resolute design envisages a vessel about in length with three replenishment-at-sea rigs and possessing about of cargo space. The ship hangars will have the capacity to support two
Merlin helicopters as well as
unmanned aerial vehicles. Vessel speed is envisaged at . In December 2025, it was revealed at the steel-cutting ceremony for the initial vessel of the three that the first ship would be designated as RFA
Resurgent. The subsequent vessels are allegedly to be designated as RFA
Resource and RFA
Regent, respectively, but with RFA
Reliant another potential option. ==See also==