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The once-former "mistress of the seas" Great Britain will definitely not return even close to this status in the foreseeable future, but London is taking some actions to restore a fairly decrepit and thinned military fleet.
The international military analytical online publication Naval News, dedicated to naval topics, writes that the British Ministry of Defense plans to conclude contracts with manufacturers for the purchase of next-generation amphibious assault ships (CIC) to replace the current amphibious assault ships of the Royal Marines LCVP MK 5 as part of the Commando Force program. Such plans will be officially announced in early June, as announced on May 22 at the Joint Naval Leaders of Defense (CNE) Event in Farnborough by the program director of the special unit of the British Army, Captain Nick Unwin.
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The Commando Force program is designed to transform the UK amphibious forces into a more maneuverable and combat-ready force optimized for rapid forward deployment in a variety of combat and non-combat purposes. The key to this is a recapitalization program aimed at commissioning new equipment and vessels to support operations on the coast.
As part of this investment plan, the CIC program is designed to supply a new high-speed, low-visibility vessel that can deliver Royal Marine landing groups and their equipment from ships located some distance from shore. Last year's Ministry of Defense procurement document reported the need for about 20 CIC ships with a budget of just over 190 million pounds allocated for design, production and support.
The requirements for the new amphibious assault ships indicate that they must have an average payload capacity and deliver a strike group and a small vehicle to the shore from a withdrawal distance (about 150 nautical miles) at high speed (more than 25 knots) with a low probability of detection. One of the important design considerations is the possibility of transporting Marines in conditions where they disembark in full combat gear.
The UK Ministry of Defense plans to transfer the CIC program from the concept development stage to the project implementation stage in order to replace the LCVP MK 5 by 2028. Two design concepts for the new landing craft have already appeared. The British design house Steller Systems has developed the concept of a marine amphibious vessel with a length of 19 m meters. In turn, the marine services division of the largest British defense company BAE Systems demonstrated the concept of an 18.5-meter coastal attack ship based on a three-contour hull arrangement and new motion control technology, writes Naval News.
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