Last minute changes on Royal Navy support ships sees MoD lose £1.7m in taxpayer cash - what happened
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Three Fleet Solid Support ships are being built to support the ‘backbone’ of the Royal Navy
Weaponry changes to a new trio of ships have cost the government more than a million pounds in taxpayer cash.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) incurred a constructive loss of just over £1.7m following tweaks to the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships. These new Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessels, RFA Resurgent, Resilient, and Resourceful, will be used to support the Royal Navy by extending their reach on long deployments.
The first ship had her keel laid at the Navantia UK Appledore Shipyard last week, with all three expected to enter service in the early 2030s. During the construction process, it was determined that changes had to be made to the automatic small calibre gun - resulting in a loss of funds.
Ben Obese-Jecty, Conservative MP for Huntingdon, asked the government about the decision, with the loss being shown in the MoD’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2025-26. Minister for defence readiness and industry, Luke Pollard, said the alterations were made to avoid further losses in the future.
The Labour MP said: “The Fleet Solid Support (FSS) Automatic Small Calibre Gun requirement, which formed part of the manufacture contract with Navantia UK, has been removed from the contract as it is no longer aligned with the Royal Navy's (RN) most likely future gun solution. The RN gun rationalisation programme, introduced since the FSS manufacture contract was placed, aims to reduce the number of gun variants and bring commonality across the RN's Fleet, providing longer term value for money.
“Although this decision has resulted in some financial loss, changing the requirement now avoids incurring greater losses at a later stage, associated with fitting and then replacing an incompatible system. The FSS ships will now be designed to accept a range of future gun systems that will enhance our warfighting readiness and deterrence.”
All three FSS ships will be tasked with delivering munitions, spare parts, food, and other essential supplies to warships on deployments. This is particularly relevant to carrier strike group operations involving HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth, where more resources are needed throughout their deployments.
The civilian force has previously struggled to deal with ship and crew availability. it’s hoped the new vessels will address this issue. Mr Pollard, Labour, previously described the RFA as the ‘backbone’ of the Royal Navy.