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Naval ship designer BMT has formally revealed the latest in its ELLIDA series of strategic sealift vessels, the ELLIDA Strike, designed to increase the lethality, flexibility and resilience of the Future Royal Marines Commando Force, begging the question, does it provide some opportunities for Australia?
As the British Royal Navy embarks on a major recapitalisation and modernisation of its tactical and strategic sealift and amphibious fleets, the focus has undoubtedly turned to fielding a fleet of adaptable, modular and resilient vessels capable of operating a host of threat environments, both independently and as part of a larger formation.
In response, BMT has developed the ELLIDA Strike, which the company said, “has been designed for operation, with careful consideration of rapid personnel flow and human factors efficiency” and would conceivably allow the Royal Navy to retire the Albion and Bay classes, respectively, to better support and enable the tactical and strategic mobility as platforms that “support dispersed, forward-deployed commando forces, robust crisis response and seamless adaptation to emerging threats and operational contexts”.
What sets ELLIDA Strike apart from other similar amphibious warfare ships is the modularity, including the integration of strike length vertical launch systems, forward of the bridge, allowing for a potent self-defence and shore support/strike payload, without having to draw heavily on the limited number of Royal Navy surface escort ships.
In addition, the design enables rapid reconfiguration for mission-specific roles such as medical support, command and control, and logistics or combat readiness through containerised pods, which also supports combined air manoeuvre operations, capable of launching and recovering both crewed and uncrewed rotary platforms, adding flexibility and redundancy to mission planning.
This includes a versatile multirole deck amid ships, purpose-built to carry modular and containerised payloads, meanwhile the vehicle deck is split, with a mezzanine level on one side for smaller vehicles and a full-height deck on the other for larger platforms. This flexible arrangement allows the ship to be rapidly reconfigured for a wide range of tasks, from hosting armoured vehicles and uncrewed systems to embarking mine warfare modules, humanitarian aid stores, or even a podded Role 2+ medical facility.
Containerised command-and-control suites can also be added to support a full two-star headquarters staff, supplementing the vessel’s permanent C2 facilities. In addition, the upper deck has capacity for up to eight standard TEU containers, providing further mission adaptability. ELLIDA Strike also delivers a significant uplift in aviation capability compared with existing amphibious platforms.
The ship’s hangar can house up to four Merlin-sized helicopters or a tailored mix of crewed and uncrewed aerial systems. Its expansive flight deck is capable of operating two CH-47 Chinooks simultaneously, a major step up from the Albion Class landing platform docks currently in service.
To support the sealift and amphibious operations of the platform, the ELLIDA Strike has been redesigned to incorporate a “twin side-by-side” well dock, which offsets some of the vulnerabilities associated with the traditional “fore and aft“ well dock arrangement, as well as incorporating capacity for a host of landing craft, uncrewed and autonomous surface and underwater vehicles, while also allowing the ship to disembark forces further from shore.
It is important to note that as it stands, there remains no finalised requirements for the Royal Navy’s Multi-Role Support Ship (MRSS) program, the design proposed by BMT is presented as a launch-off point, something stressed by Tim Neild CBE, head of business development, UK and Europe at BMT, who said, “Whilst ELLIDA Strike is not the final answer, it’s a strong foundation for further development.”
“It invites discussion, collaboration and refinement. As the Royal Navy continues to shape its requirements, we stand ready to adapt and evolve our design to meet the needs of tomorrow’s operations. This concept represents a capability-led approach to design – showcasing what’s possible and demonstrating that BMT has both the expertise and the openness to partner as requirements mature,” Neild added.
But what has this got to do with Australia’s own amphibious warfare capabilities and the platforms required to support littoral manoeuvres?
While the government’s 2023 Defence Strategic Review and subsequent 2024 National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program all effectively did away with the AU$3–4 billion SEA 2200 program – originally identified in the 2016 Defence white paper and reinforced in the 2020 Defence Strategic Update and Force Structure Plan in favour of programs like LAND 8710 Phase 1 and 2 light and medium sealift programs, along with the decision to acquire the Damen LST-100 has Army’s heavy landing craft – strategic sealift capacity is still largely limited.
The ADF’s amphibious and sealift fleet is increasingly stretched, with the Canberra Class landing helicopter docks (LHD) carrying much of the burden and limited depth elsewhere. ELLIDA Strike’s modular design with space for vehicles, uncrewed systems, containerised command centres or medical facilities points towards a future SEA 2200 that is more adaptable, survivable and responsive than traditional auxiliary sealift ships.
For Australia, the attraction lies in three areas. First, it offers credible amphibious mobility with well docks, aviation capacity and robust vehicle decks essential for projecting force or delivering aid across the Indo-Pacific’s dispersed archipelagos. Second, its modular architecture aligns with Australia’s push for sovereign industry involvement, allowing local shipyards to integrate mission modules, upgrades and sustainment.
And third, by being designed as a warship rather than a pure support vessel, ELLIDA Strike could give the Navy a sealift asset capable of operating in contested environments, rather than just benign settings.
Framed this way, ELLIDA Strike could help SEA 2200 evolve from a logistics enabler into a multirole manoeuvre platform part sealift ship, part mothership, part regional disaster relief asset.
It would add depth to the amphibious force, reduce over-reliance on the LHDs and ensure Australia can move and support forces independently across the Indo-Pacific.
Critically, this would also position Australia well to transition away from the relatively benign Canberra Class LHDs towards a more strategically capable and flexible platform without losing critically needed sealift capabilities.
In short, a refreshed SEA 2200 program, built around a concept like Ellida Strike, offers a chance to reinvigorate Australian strategic sealift, sharpen littoral manoeuvre capability and strengthen sovereign industrial pathways at the same time.
Stephen Kuper
Steve has an extensive career across government, defence industry and advocacy, having previously worked for cabinet ministers at both Federal and State levels.
