UK and Netherlands sign £2.4bn amphibious shipbuilding deal
Eight 15,000-tonne amphibious transport ships to be built on a Dutch design in UK yards
The United Kingdom and the Netherlands have signed a £2.4bn agreement to jointly build a new class of amphibious transport ships, with the deal concluded by the two countries' prime ministers on the sidelines of a NATO leaders' meeting. Eight vessels will be built to a Dutch design in UK shipyards alongside Dutch industry, with each navy taking four, and the programme is expected to support hundreds of high-skilled British jobs.
Each 160-metre ship will displace about 15,000 tonnes and carry troops, military vehicles, equipment and drones, with flight decks able to operate current and future long-range drones and autonomous systems as the Royal Navy moves toward a hybrid fleet. The partnership deepens more than 50 years of cooperation through the UK-Netherlands Amphibious Force and includes closer work on uncrewed technologies and the protection of critical undersea infrastructure. It follows a recent UK-Norway deal to build five frigates in British yards.
