Thread by @TotherChris

⚓️ Albion-class Replacement. A lot can be done, if you are willing to rely on the RFA for heavy duty Landing Craft.

An Army/Navy crossover thread 🧵

⚓️ The three main (there are others, e.g. airlift) ways to land equipment from a ship to the shore by the Royal Navy are the LCU Mk.10 for AFV's.

⚓️ The LCVP Mk.5 largely for personnel, though also light vehicles from ATV's to Land Rover sized 4x4's. The covered area is retractable and allows State of Mind folks to loiter over the horizon for a few days.

⚓️ The Mexeflote is a flexible system that can act as floating beach or a connector, transporting a large amount of kit in slightly more favourable conditions. Though have a look at the Falklands photos.

⚓️ To get these craft near a beach, the Albion-class (Royal Navy) has a cavernous dock, largely for the LCU's.

⚓️ The Albion's can also loft LCVP MK.5's into large davits.

⚓️ The Bay-class (Royal Fleet Auxiliary) also sports a large dock, though not as vast as the Albion's.

⚓️ The Bay's also tend to carry assembled Mexeflote rafts along their sides.

⚓️ The Royal Navy are looking for a replacement for the ~20 odd LCVP Mk.5's via the Commando Insertion Craft programme. As well as davit carriage per the LCVP Mk.5's, these *could* self-deploy per the overseas P2000 and Cutlass-class transits.

⚓️ CIC vessels could also be carried per the more hush-hush fast class in the Royal Navy via the SERCO fleet.

⚓️ Other crane and work deck equipped vessels such as the newly converted RFA Proteus could do likewise.

⚓️ But what if we didn't replace the Albion-class and their cavernous docks 1:1? What if we looked at the Damen XO concepts with large boat bays instead.

⚓️ It takes little imagination to scale up BAE's Adaptable Strike Frigate concept from the T26 sized boat limit to an LCVP/CIC size and weight limit with similarly sized davits or port/stbd bays.

⚓️ The advantage here is the smaller resource footprint. For the same complement as Albion and Bulwark, you could operate 3-4 CIC-carriers and be in more places at once.

⚓️ The option also allows you sustain or surge LRG/LSG's for longer or greater projection.

⚓️ The down side is the reduction in LCU MK.10 capacity. You end up working the Bay-class (and replacements) hard.

⚓️ Or you rely on finding "friendly" ports for Point-class and STUFT lift for the Army.

⚓️ Port enablement and mobile piers being a vast topic unto itself. More here in @thinkdefence's article:

thinkdefence.co.uk/port-enablemen…

⚓️ I am personally not a fan of vehicles intended to swim to shore specifically for the UK as we're a little too small to sustain discrete fleets effectively.

⚓️ Having said that vehicles that dual-role as awful-terrain or engineering / wide wet gap crossing are an option. Subtle but effective difference, I appreciate.

⚓️ Albion-class replacement and CIC introduction is approaching. The latter must take into account that the former may be retired long before it is and look to the T26, T31 and beyond. The Royal Navy must also consider how it will launch the Army ashore as this will be critical.

/FIN