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Construction begins on new ship to support aircraft carrier operations
3 December 2025
The construction of the first of three Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ships that will form the logistical backbone for UK aircraft carrier operations has begun at North Devon shipyard Appledore.
The steel cutting for RFA Resurgent marked the start of construction of the next-generation Fleet Solid Support vessels, which will provide munitions, stores and provisions to Royal Navy task groups – primarily those led by the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers – around the world.
His Majesty the King approved the names of the new ships, which are being built by Navantia UK in collaboration with Harland & Wolff, BMT and A&P Appledore.
Only Resurgent’s name has been revealed so far, but all three titles are intended to convey values associated with the role that Fleet Solid Support ships will play – in the year the RFA celebrates its 120th anniversary and continues to provide irreplaceable support to the Royal Navy.
Commodore Sam Shattock, Commodore RFA, said: “The ship is innovative, to meet the latest environmental protection standards and designed from the bottom up to deliver maritime sustainment as efficiently as possible.
“The construction will provide impetus to the UK shipbuilding industry, supporting jobs and local economies at the various construction and assembly locations in the UK.
“I’m excited to watch this ship join the RFA flotilla and demonstrate its capabilities in due course. A true warfighting enabler for the Royal Navy of tomorrow.”
Keith Bethell, DE&S Director, Maritime Environment, said: “This is a significant moment for everyone involved in the delivery of this programme.
“The Fleet Solid Support ships represent a major investment in the RFA's ability to support frontline naval forces globally. Each vessel will serve as a crucial supply link for carrier-led operations, proudly built by skilled workers brought together for this shared mission.”
While the steel cutting ceremony took place in North Devon, the £1.6bn Fleet Solid Support programme – which creates 1,200 shipyard jobs – will be undertaken primarily across three sites in the UK and Spain, including the Harland & Wolff yard in Belfast.
President of Navantia, Ricardo Domínguez, Sir Alan Massey, Non-Executive Chair of Navantia UK, Minister of Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard MP, and Cdre Shattock were all present at the ceremony alongside a number of other VIPs.
RFA Resurgent is the first in class and is a name that has been held by one ship previously, a merchant ship converted to a fleet replenishment ship in 1957 and decommissioned in 1979.
There is an islet named after her in the Three Brothers groups of coral islands in the Indian Ocean, after she supported a 1975 joint services scientific expedition to the area around Danger Island, within the British Indian Ocean Territory.