According to foreign media reports, UK Defense Secretary Grant Sharps recently gave a speech during the "Maritime Forces Conference", announcing that the UK Navy will purchase six multi-purpose support ships to replace existing amphibious vessels, providing "more operational flexibility, more advanced technological support, and more comprehensive comprehensive support" for future amphibious operations. Sharps stated that from 1906 to 1916, Britain built 51 ships, which was known as the "golden age" of the British shipbuilding industry. "With the construction or preparation of 28 ships currently underway, the British shipbuilding industry has entered a new" golden age ".". He emphasized that amphibious ship projects that were not fully valued in the Navy in the past will develop rapidly. According to reports, in 2017, then UK Secretary of Defense Michael Fallon proposed a plan to develop a new type of amphibious vessel in his report on the National Shipbuilding Strategy submitted to Parliament. Subsequently, the UK Ministry of Defense began researching alternative options for dock landing ships and proposed the concept of a multi-purpose support ship after multiple discussions. This concept officially entered the argumentation stage in 2021. In the revised version of the 2022 National Shipbuilding Strategy, the UK Department of Defense has identified a plan to build five new multi-purpose support ships and retrofit one existing dock landing ship. According to the plan, the UK will further demonstrate the functionality of the new ship by the end of this year and begin construction in two batches around 2030. Although still in the conceptual demonstration stage, the UK Department of Defense has clearly stated in its notice the development direction of the new ship: the multi-purpose support ship will be a highly flexible vessel that can be deployed in a wider range of combat environments and perform diverse and complex tasks. Specifically, the new ship will focus on the following three development goals. Firstly, possess the ability to perform multiple tasks. The project leader of the multi-purpose support ship stated, "Adaptability and flexibility are the core of our design." According to the plan, six multi-purpose support ships will replace the existing two Poseidon Sons class dock landing ships, three Gulf class dock landing ships, and one Argus aviation support ship. The British Navy hopes that the new ship will have the communication, command and control capabilities, amphibious force delivery capabilities, logistics equipment transportation capabilities, and medical service capabilities of the aforementioned warships. For this purpose, the new ship will adopt a universal modular design, and the interior of the ship will be divided into functional areas such as hangars, docks, and container areas according to different tasks. These functional areas can be flexibly adjusted and combined on six ships. For example, all six ships are equipped with medical service areas. If necessary, these six medical service areas can be concentrated on one ship to specifically carry out medical tasks. Secondly, we should attach importance to the construction of unmanned systems and anti unmanned system capabilities. On the one hand, the number of personnel on the new ship will only be 100 to 130, which is approximately one-third of the current number of personnel on amphibious vessels. Due to personnel reduction, the new ship will be equipped with more unmanned systems. On the other hand, the British Navy believes that the recent Red Sea escort operation has shown an increasing threat of drones to the fleet, making the demand for anti drones more prominent. The British Navy hopes to equip the new ship with the latest developed "Dragon Fire" high-power laser weapon to enhance its anti drone capabilities. Finally, consolidate and highlight the construction of amphibious attack capabilities. For a long time, the British Navy has regarded maritime nuclear deterrence capability, aircraft carrier strike capability, and amphibious attack capability as its three important capabilities. Defense experts point out that amphibious attack capability is considered key for Britain to maintain maritime deterrence and project influence to inland areas. Therefore, the British Navy emphasizes that in addition to having universal functions, the new ship is more important in inheriting and developing the amphibious attack capabilities of the retired "Ocean" amphibious assault ship in 2018. The new ship will also undertake the task of delivering troops from the South and North coastal reaction groups, thereby strengthening the British Navy's cutting-edge military presence globally. After the announcement of the new ship construction plan, many British media raised doubts. The first issue is funding. Analysis shows that although the UK's defense budget has been increasing year by year, the land, sea, and air forces have a significant demand for weapons and equipment, resulting in a significant funding gap. In 2023 alone, due to budget constraints, the UK has cancelled its procurement plans for 2 E-7 AWACS and 5 Type 26 frigates. It is expected that the cost of each new multi-purpose support ship is about £ 300 million (approximately $381 million), with a total of 6 ships totaling nearly £ 2 billion. In the internal funding allocation of the British Navy, such ships are prioritized after projects such as nuclear submarines and new frigates, and the specific budget they can obtain in the future still needs to be observed. Secondly, there are production issues. Defense experts point out that the specific design plan for the new ship has not been determined yet, and the sudden surge in orders in the UK shipbuilding industry after a long period of downturn has caused delays in the production progress of some warships. The previous joint research and production plan between the UK and the Netherlands was also nearing termination due to differences in philosophy and models. With the retirement of old amphibious vessels planned around 2033, there is significant uncertainty about whether the new ships can be put into service on schedule. (Lai Xin She)