Overview
- The agreement was signed on July 7 at the NATO leaders’ meeting in Ankara by Prime Ministers Keir Starmer and Rob Jetten to jointly procure the vessels under a £2.4 billion programme.
- Each country will operate four ships roughly 160 metres long and 15,000 tonnes in displacement that are designed to move troops, vehicles and equipment and to operate long‑range drones and other uncrewed systems from their flight decks.
- The ships will be built in UK shipyards to a Dutch design with construction to involve Dutch industry, a plan the government says will support hundreds of high‑skilled UK jobs.
- Ministers have not named specific builders, contract arrangements or firm delivery dates and have set only a broad in‑service ambition of “in the 2030s,” leaving procurement details to be decided in the coming years.
- The deal implements the Defence Investment Plan’s shift away from a UK-only Multi‑Role Strike Ship, aims to restore capability lost after the 2024 retirement of HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, and is intended to accelerate joint work on autonomous and uncrewed technology for NATO operations.