Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of procuring Multi-Role Strike Ships rather than Multi-Role Support Ships on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

The Multi-Role Strike Ship programme is in its Concept Phase during which the requirements, including appropriate crewing models are determined.

The name change from Multi-Role Support Ship to Multi-Role Strike Ship better reflects the platform’s function and does not indicate any change of requirement.