On 3 September 2026, the Fleet Solid Support ship keel was laid at Appledore. The tiny wooden one immediately began taking minutes, in case anyone tried to call a ceremony early progress. RFA Resurgent is the first of three ships. RFA Reliant and RFA Resourceful are its sisters. The programme promises jobs, apprenticeships and a future in which the Royal Navy can stay supplied at sea. The keepsake has asked who is supplying the biscuits.
The Fleet Solid Support ship keel has achieved something remarkable. It has become the only member of the ceremony with no ministerial portfolio, corporate title or prepared remarks. Yet it appears to understand the timetable better than everyone else.
The keel laying marked the formal start of assembly for RFA Resurgent. The programme is expected to support around 1,200 UK shipyard jobs and hundreds of apprenticeships. The wooden keepsake has recorded these figures under “substantial promises made by small objects”.
Fleet Solid Support ship keel reviews the timetable
RFA Resurgent should enter service in the early 2030s. That sounds precise until the keepsake asks whether “early” means before lunch, before the next review or before the procurement system finishes congratulating itself.
Resurgent, Reliant and Resourceful sound less like warships than qualities required on a council application form. They will carry munitions, spares, food and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels at sea. The keepsake has filed this under “tiny object, substantial responsibilities” and requested a larger desk.
Construction involves Appledore, Belfast and Spanish yards. Final assembly, integration and trials will take place in Belfast. It is a grand chain of steel, schedules and official confidence. Naturally, the whole operation now faces competition from a wooden shape with a clipboard.
A launch party for the paperwork
The keepsake has requested a launch party, but only after the ship is ready to sail. It has seen too many announcements arrive before the thing being announced. Now it refuses to celebrate until it can identify the hull, the budget and the person responsible for the napkins.
For now, the keel is laid, the sister ships have names and the support fleet has acquired a very small auditor. The Navy is building ships to sustain operations across the globe. The keepsake is building a filing system, and its paperwork is already the only part of the programme that appears fully seaworthy.
Source: GOV.UK.
