Britain has started formal assembly of RFA Resurgent, the first of three Fleet Solid Support ships intended to extend the Royal Navy\u2019s ability to operate at sea. The keel was laid at Navantia UK\u2019s Appledore yard, where the names of sister ships RFA Reliant and RFA Resourceful were also announced.<\/p>\n
The ships will deliver ammunition, spare parts, food and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels while they are deployed. This will allow naval forces to remain at sea for longer periods, including during carrier strike group operations.<\/p>\n
About \u00a3100 million will be invested in Navantia UK\u2019s shipyards at Appledore in Devon and Belfast under the programme. The government expects the work to create 1,200 jobs and hundreds of apprenticeships while supporting the reindustrialisation of British shipbuilding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Royal Fleet Auxiliary are the backbone of our Royal Navy and these new ships will keep our navy ready to operate at range for longer,\u201d said Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard. \u201cThis investment is helping bolster UK shipbuilding, backing thousands of skilled jobs and apprenticeships in Appledore, Belfast and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ship modules are now under construction at Appledore, Navantia UK\u2019s Harland & Wolff facility in Belfast and Navantia yards in Spain. Final assembly, systems integration and trials will be conducted at the Belfast yard.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s keel laying marks the formal start of assembly of the first Fleet Solid Support ship and an important moment for Appledore, where shipbuilding has returned to a yard with more than 170 years of history,\u201d said Donato Mart\u00ednez, chief executive of Navantia UK. \u201cFSS is rebuilding sovereign industrial capability in the UK, creating skilled jobs, developing apprentices and strengthening the supply chain for future naval programmes, including the autonomous and uncrewed platforms of the future Hybrid Navy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each ship will have a core Royal Fleet Auxiliary crew of 101 and accommodation for another 80 personnel. The additional personnel may operate helicopters and boats or perform other roles required for a mission.<\/p>\n
RFA Resurgent remains on schedule to enter service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in the early 2030s. Its keel laying follows the cutting of the ship\u2019s first steel last year and marks the point at which its structure formally begins to take shape.<\/p>\n
A specially commissioned coin was placed inside the ship\u2019s structure by Navantia UK apprentice Tyler Lister during the ceremony. Another will be presented to the captain and crew when RFA Resurgent is ready to sail.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s keel laying marks another important step in the delivery of RFA Resurgent and the wider Fleet Solid Support programme,\u201d said Commodore Sam Shattock, Head of the RFA. \u201cSeeing construction progress here in Appledore demonstrates the momentum behind a project that will provide the Royal Fleet Auxiliary with world-class capabilities to sustain Royal Navy operations across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Fleet Solid Support programme forms part of the government\u2019s Defence Investment Plan. It also sits within the government\u2019s wider \u00a3298 billion commitment to defence investment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Britain has started formal assembly of RFA Resurgent, the first of three Fleet Solid Support ships intended to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-9036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-defence-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}