Amphibious

The United Kingdom and the Netherlands will jointly develop a new fleet of amphibious transport ships under a maritime partnership announced by the British government. Each country will operate four vessels, strengthening NATO’s amphibious capabilities and improving the alliance’s ability to respond rapidly to crises.

“Combining the U.K.’s industrial expertise with the Netherlands’ design and seafaring experience to deliver ‌first-rate platforms for our elite amphibious forces, this partnership will strengthen ⁠NATO,” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement issued while he attended the NATO Summit in Turkey.

The new landing platform docks (LPD) will be based on a Dutch design and will be built in U.K. shipyards “alongside Dutch industry,” as part of a deal worth £2.4 billion ($3.2 billion), covering the four ships for the U.K. Royal Navy and four for the Royal Netherlands Navy. These are expected to enter service from the early 2030s.

What the United Kingdom refers to as the Amphibious Transport Ship Program supersedes the previous Multi-Role Strike Ship (MRSS) program, which was judged “too complex” and not reflective of the future U.K. Commando Forces.

The arrangement has some parallels with the recently announced program to build five Type 26 frigates for Norway, with the warships coming out of British shipyards.

Although the final design has not been confirmed, Dutch shipbuilder Damen is widely expected to provide the design basis, likely drawing from its Enforcer amphibious ship family.

The U.K. government says the vessels will be 525 feet (160 meters) long and will have a displacement of 15,000 tonnes. Damen offers a total of seven different Enforcer designs, ranging in displacement from 9,000 tonnes to 17,000 tonnes. It is unconfirmed if the vessels will be of the conventional LPD-type layout, as seen at the top of this article, or if they will be of the through-deck type, providing a longer flight deck for helicopter and drone operations.

As well as transporting troops, vehicles, and equipment, the vessels will have flight decks designed to operate current and future long-range drones and autonomous systems. This is in line with the U.K. Royal Navy’s shift to what it describes as a ‘hybrid navy.’

For construction, it appears that the program will rely upon the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Navantia UK, the owner of Harland & Wolff, shared the following statement:

“Amphibious transport ships will be a vital component of Britain’s sovereign naval defense capability going forward. As outlined in the Defense Investment Plan, they will enable troops to be deployed around the world and are a necessary replacement for the Albion class assault ships.”

After the United Kingdom officially decommissioned HMS Ocean in 2018 and sold it to Brazil, the Royal Marines had to rely on the Royal Navy’s two Albion class LPDs. However, in 2024, the U.K. Ministry of Defense announced that both Albion and Bulwark would be withdrawn from service the following year.

Since then, the Royal Marines have made use of the three Bay class landing ship docks. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), a civilian mariner service akin to the U.S. Military Sealift Command, operates these ships, which have more limited capabilities than the LPDs.

At one point, the British were planning to procure up to six Multi-Role Strike Ships (MRSS) to replace the two Albion class, three Bay class, and the single RFA Argus. Budget pressures reduced those ambitions. While the Royal Navy will now get four new assault ships, they will form something like a joint force with the same number of Dutch vessels.

As for the Royal Netherlands Navy, it currently operates two Rotterdam class LPDs and a single Karel Doorman class multifunction support ship, also outfitted for amphibious operations. The new LPDs are expected to replace the Rotterdam class.

Significant is the fact that the eight new LPDs are involved, representing a considerable boost for the amphibious forces of both navies.

These services already operate closely together under the U.K.-Netherlands Amphibious Force, which dates back to the Cold War.

“This partnership is not just about building ships; it is also about delivering long-term security for both the U.K. and the Netherlands, ensuring we are able to stay ahead of the threats of tomorrow,” Prime Minister Starmer said.

U.K. Defense Secretary Dan Jarvis added: “We are building an even stronger amphibious force with the Netherlands, strengthening our defense and deterrence as close NATO allies and JEF [Joint Expeditionary Force] partners.”

The commonality of LPDs will also see the Royal Navy and Royal Netherlands Navy increasingly train, deploy, and operate together, the U.K. government has confirmed.

The drone aspect is also important, with the new LPDs being viewed as a way of accelerating industrial and military cooperation on autonomous and uncrewed technology.

While the kinds of drones that will go aboard the vessels have not been disclosed and are probably still a work in progress, it’s clear that the LPDs fit in with the United Kingdom’s vision for future warfare. The recently published Defense Investment Plan provides a budget of more than £5 billion ($6.6 billion) over four years just for drones and related capabilities, as you can read about here.

There is also further scope for cooperation here, with the U.K. government confirming that there are plans for future drone and uncrewed technology to be developed between the two nations.

The partnership also has significant implications for security in the North Atlantic and High North, regions that have become increasingly strategic as NATO bolsters its northern defenses in the face of increasing tensions with Russia.

Alongside other NATO and JEF allies, the new LPDs will be expected to work together to protect critical undersea infrastructure and strengthen deterrence against emerging threats in these waters.

The new amphibious transport ships represent a major reset of Britain’s amphibious capability after years of uncertainty and force reductions. Operating alongside Dutch vessels, autonomous systems, and NATO partners, they are expected to become central elements of the Royal Navy’s future expeditionary and hybrid warfare model.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

The U.S. Marine Corps is working toward adding an active protection system (APS) capability to its fleet of 8×8 wheeled Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACV). APSs on the market today are generally designed to defeat incoming anti-tank guided missiles and other infantry anti-armor weapons. However, many of them also have the inherent ability to down incoming drones or are being modified to address this ever-growing threat, something TWZ previously explored in a detailed feature. The Marines are already exploring additional options to improve the ACV’s defenses against uncrewed aerial attackers, as well as other upgrades to the vehicles.

Chris Melkonian, the Marine Corps’ current Program Manager for Advanced Amphibious Assault (PM AAA), talked today about APS for the ACV fleet and other plans for those vehicles at the annual Modern Day Marine exposition, at which TWZ is in attendance.

The Marines currently field two ACV variants, the baseline personnel carrier type (ACV-P) and a version optimized for command and control tasks (ACV-C). The service is in the process of acquiring two more variants, one armed with a turreted 30mm cannon (ACV-30) and a recovery vehicle version fitted with a crane and other specialized features (ACV-R). The Corps is presently targeting 2028 for reaching initial operational capability with the ACV-30 and the ACV-R.

The Marines view the entire ACV family as central to its ability to conduct amphibious operations, as well as for providing additional lethality and other support to forces once ashore. At present, the service is planning to acquire a total fleet of 608 ACVs, consisting of 389 ACV-Ps, 33 ACV-Cs, 152 ACV-30s, and 34 ACV-Rs. Prime contractor BAE Systems has also proposed additional variants, including ones configured for electronic warfare or dedicated to the counter-drone role.

In 2018, the Corps announced it had selected the ACV as the replacement for its Cold War-era tracked Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV) family. The service announced the formal retirement of the AAV last fall.

There are already “things that we’re doing today to make the ACV family vehicles even more capable,” Melkonian said at Modern Day Marine. “The analogy I use is the ACV that Marines are using today is not the ACV that they’re going to use in the future.”

This includes an “active protection system,” he added. “We’re working with the vendor to mature that capability. We’re going to move that right into production.”

Recently released budget documents also say that the Marines are asking for $28.35 million in Fiscal Year 2027 for “Ancillary Equipment” for the ACV fleet, which “is primarily attributed to the procurement of Special Mission Kits for the Active Protective System (APS).” Those same documents further note that the “funding provides APS production kits, integration kits, installation labor, countermeasures, and spares for 21 ACV-P vehicles and will add a new defensive capability to existing vehicles.”

However, neither Melkonian nor the budget documents have said what specific type of APS the ACVs are now in line to get, or when. TWZ has reached out to the service for more information.

This is certainly not the U.S. military’s first foray into APSs for armored vehicles. The U.S. Army previously integrated the Israeli-designed and combat-proven Trophy APS onto a portion of its M1 Abrams tanks.

TROPHY is the world’s ONLY operational APS (Previous Version – Updated Video Available)

That service is also now in the process of adding another Israeli-developed APS, Iron Fist, onto at least some of its Bradley Fighting Vehicles. The Army’s version of Iron Fist, now designated as the XM251, is also set to be fitted to next-generation M1E3 tanks and a planned replacement for the Bradley family, tentatively designated the XM30.

There are other APS designs on the market today that the Marines could have chosen for integration onto the ACV, as well.

As noted, APSs available today are generally designed to neutralize anti-tank guided missiles and other infantry anti-armor weapons. They typically achieve this through the use of ‘hard-kill’ projectiles designed to destroy targets either using an explosive warhead or via the sheer force of impact. Hard-kill APSs use a mixture of sensors, which can include small-form-factor radars and electro-optical/infrared cameras, to cue those interceptors to engage incoming threats.

From when the Marines first announced the selection of BAE’s ACV back in 2018, TWZ has noted that an APS could provide the vehicles with a valuable extra layer of defense against anti-armor missiles and rockets. More capable infantry anti-armor weapons continue to be developed and proliferate globally. Those threats present additional challenges in beach landing scenarios for amphibious vehicles like the ACV, which move much more slowly in the water than they do on land.

The threat that drones pose, and to armored vehicles in particular, which TWZ has been sounding the alarm on for years, has also now been fully rammed into the public consciousness. This is thanks largely to the stark visuals of tanks and other vehicles being attacked by uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) that emerge on a daily basis now from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

A Ukrainian drone from the 79th Air Assault Brigade drops a 40mm HEDP grenade on a Russian UR-77 Meteorit, causing a catastrophic payload explosion. pic.twitter.com/SsaQCKXsNL

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 14, 2023

Drones are an ever-more common and still evolving threat across a growing number of conflict zones worldwide. First-person view (FPV) type kamikaze drones controlled via fiber optic cable have become a particular point of concern, since they are impervious to radio frequency jamming. In turn, this has already prompted the development of a variety of active and passive countermeasures for armored and unarmored vehicles. We will come back to this in a moment.

TWZ has previously laid out a detailed case specifically for using hard-kill APSs to provide added counter-drone defense for armored vehicles. The Israeli firms behind Trophy and Iron Fist have both now notably demonstrated the ability of their respective systems to defeat uncrewed aerial threats in certain envelopes, as can be seen in the videos below. It should be noted that Trophy, Iron Fist, and other hard-kill APSs have a limited number of engagement opportunities and are not really intended to defeat large volumes of threats simultaneously, such as drones attacking in swarms.

Trophy® APS – The land maneuver enabler

Iron Fist APS | Active Protection System for Armored Vehicles

When it comes to the APS capability now planned for Marine ACVs, “that is not going to be the end-all, be-all,” Melkonian, the Marine Corps’ Program Manager, said today. “We’re constantly looking at what the next generation of APS is and how we can get that onto the platform in a lightweight form factor.”

Melkonian also highlighted other potential counter-drone and more general survivability upgrades that could be on the horizon for ACV. This could include the integration of directed energy weapons and some form of added overhead protection. Top-down attacks on vehicles where the armor is typically thinnest can be very threatening, in general.

As an aside, the Army has already been working to acquire hundreds of Top Attack Protection (TAP) add-on armor systems for installation on its M1 Abrams tanks and other armored vehicles. This reflects an expanding global trend in the integration of so-called ‘cope cage’ type armor around the turrets and other areas of armored and unarmored vehicles, primarily to protect against drone attacks. The first cope cages appeared on Russian tanks in the lead-up to the all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This kind of armor does present tradeoffs, including the potential to interfere with other capabilities, such as APSs.

Improved “situational awareness, that’s kind of a gateway to counter-UAS, in terms of the ability to sense your environment,” Melkonian also noted today while talking about other possible upgrades for the ACV. “Take all that video on board and then be able to feed that into [a] counter-UAS system.”

Melkonian highlighted several other areas of interest where the Marines are looking to improve the ACV’s capabilities. His list included things like reducing the vehicle’s signatures to make it harder for enemies to spot, improving its mobility while in the water, and upgrades to just help keep everything inside dry.

“Marines operate in very humid, very difficult environments,” he explained. “The ability to dehumidify the vehicles is a critical enabler, being able to improve the maintenance strategy and keeping [sic] those components running for as long as they need to.”

Broadly speaking, the Marines are interested in new “lightweight solutions, advanced technology, and anything that’s going to be marinized. It must be marinized,” he added. “I can’t tell you how many solutions have been picked, and that’s one of the first questions we ask, and sometimes the solutions are designed for a marinized environment, sometimes they’re not. Marines go where no one else goes, and we’ve got to be able to make sure that our capabilities can support their needs.”

The core marinization requirement will apply to the APS integration just like any other upgrades for Marine ACVs.

Altogether, the addition of active protection systems looks to be just one important upgrade for the Marine Corps’ ACV fleet now on the horizon.

Eric Tegler contributed to this story.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

April 27 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Navy and Marine Corps conducted a major joint amphibious landing drill in Pohang, testing combined operations involving manned and unmanned assets, the military said Monday.

The exercise, held on the coast of Dokseok-ri in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, involved about 3,200 troops from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

The drill included Korean Amphibious Assault Vehicles, the large transport ship Marado, MUH-1 Marineon helicopters, P-8A maritime patrol aircraft, KF-16 fighter jets, AH-64E attack helicopters and drones operated by the Drone Operations Command.

The exercise focused on “decisive action,” a key phase of amphibious operations in which Marine landing forces secure a beachhead with support from naval gunfire and air power before transitioning to ground operations.

A New Zealand Army platoon joined the landing force for the first time, operating with South Korean Marines. The New Zealand troops trained for two weeks before the landing, including urban operations, combat shooting and boarding and dismounting drills using amphibious vehicles.

The South Korean military said the exercise also tested responses to enemy drones, mine-clearing operations, anti-submarine warfare and air defense procedures.

Logistics drones were used to deliver ammunition, combat rations and medical supplies to units operating deep in enemy territory. U.S. Navy 7th Fleet personnel also took part in mine countermeasure operations.

Special operations forces used first-person-view drones for the first time during advance force operations, collecting real-time intelligence while infiltrating target beaches and clearing obstacles.

“This exercise strengthened the Navy and Marine Corps’ joint operational capability as one team and verified the practicality of manned-unmanned combined forces using advanced science and technology,” said Navy Capt. Hwang Sang-geun, commander of the amphibious task force.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260428010008699