Common Sense Dictates India Buy 2 Albion Class LPDs from UK Navy

  

Common sense dictates that India buy 2 Albion Class LPDs from the UK Navy that are up for sale. Why, simply because the Indian Navy currently operates just one LPD, which is INS Jalashwa, an ex-US Navy warship that was built way back in 1971 but was sparingly used, which allowed its prolonged use in the US Navy and the Indian Navy. But its time is almost up, and in the next 5-6 years, it will have to retire, after which the Indian Navy will be left with no LPDs in its fleet. Remember that in November 2024, the newly elected Labour government stated that it wants both ships to be removed from service by March 2025 and put them up for sale.

There is a tender for building 4 indigenously built LPDs for the Indian Navy, but in all sense and purposes, those ships are a good 15 years away from entering the Indian Navy fleet. This is due to indecision on who will build, the design, and budget constraints. In the meantime the best idea is to buy the 2 Albion-class LPDs that the UK Navy has decided to put up for sale. Built in the early 2000s, these ships have been sparingly used and have mostly been kept in standby/readiness, however, it is becoming increasingly costly for the UK Navy to keep them in operationally ready mode. Both the LPDs have been kept in operationally ready mode, turn by turn, for the past 10 years.

What are 2 Albion-class LPDs

So, what are these 2 Albion-class LPDs. The 2 Albion-class landing platform dock form a class of amphibious warfare ships that are in service with the Royal UK Navy. The class consists of two vessels, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, both ordered in 1996 to replace the ageing Fearless class LPDs that performed well during the Falklands War of 1982. Both ships were built by BAE Systems Marine at the former Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering yard in Barrow-in-Furness. Albion was commissioned in 2003 and Bulwark in 2005. Each of the ships has a crew of 325 and can accommodate up to 405 troops. 31 large trucks and 36 smaller vehicles, and main battle tanks can be carried inside the vehicle deck. To disembark troops and vehicles, the vessels are equipped with 8 landing craft. As of 2024, both vessels are kept in reserve, though earlier plans were in place to keep them in reserve till 2033-34 when they will be replaced by the future Multi Role Support Ships (MRSS).

Both ships' roles are "to act as the afloat command platform for the Royal Navy's Amphibious Task Force and Landing Force Commanders when embarked" and "to embark, transport, deploy and recover troops with their equipment and vehicles which form part of an amphibious assault force". They are larger and more capable than the Fearless class, and formed part of a modernization programme of the British amphibious fleet, which included the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean (until 2018), the Bay-class landing ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and the Point-class sealift ships.

Why is the UK Navy Selling 2 Albion-class LPDs

To cut the running costs of the Royal Navy, the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review concluded that one of its two Albion-class LPDs should be placed into extended readiness, or uncrewed reserve, while the other is held at high readiness for operations. The vessels were to alternate between extended readiness and high readiness throughout their service lives.  As a cost-cutting measure, it was confirmed that Albion would be the first of the two vessels to be placed at extended readiness, for a cost of UK£2.5 million.

Running costs while in extended readiness are estimated to be UK£300,000 per annum to keep the vessel available for reactivation at short notice. HMS Albion re-entered high readiness when HMS Bulwark was put into extended readiness. In 2014, HMS Albion entered a regeneration refit and rejoined the active fleet in 2016.

The running costs of one of the Albion-class vessels at high readiness ranged from UK£17.7 million to UK£38.6 million per annum from 2007 to 2011. As of late 2018, Albion was in active service while Bulwark was held at extended readiness. However, in 2024, it was reported that, due to manning problems in the Royal Navy and despite the pending completion of a major refit of HMS Bulwark, both vessels were now expected to remain in reserve.

The decommissioning of the ships by the UK Navy is planned for March 2025. On 20 December 2024, it was reported that the Brazilian Navy is in negotiation with the UK Navy to buy only HMS Bulwark. On 26 January 2025, it was reported that the sale for Brazil of the two boats of the class, Albion and Bulwark, in a negotiation of paltry UK£20 million (R$145 million), was later confirmed by the Royal and Brazilian navies. However, as of now, the discussions have again stalled reportedly.

How India Can Benefit

As said earlier, the best idea is to buy the 2 Albion-class LPDs that the UK Navy has decided to put up for sale as a replacement for INS Jalashwa and fill the gap in capability till we develop our own indigenously developed LPDs. It is this adamant behaviour of the Indian Navy and the Government of India of not buying new warships from outside and focusing only on indigenous warships that has resulted in the Indian Navy operating without a proper minesweeper for over 5 years now.

Even when the chance of buying service US Navy minesweeper service came, we let it go, and didn’t even agree to the price quoted by Russia, which was willing to supply a minesweeper design. We have still not been able to decide on our own minesweeper design, let alone a builder. We must not repeat the mistake if we are to build a ‘Blue Water Navy’ any time soon, as, under any sense, a blue water navy must have a fleet of LPDs in place. It is important that India should offer a better deal to the UK Navy to buy out the 2 Albion-class LPDs.

This deal could also help India tilt its discussions on other defence projects with the UK, like the fighter jet engine project, where Rolls-Royce of the UK could be a major player and could help in its development. Also, this could help the Indian Navy get its hands on a minesweeper or a design from the UK Navy and finally develop the much-needed minesweeper for the Indian Navy. India can choose from either the Hunt class or the Sandown class to meet its requirement for 12 MCMV or Mine Counter Measure Vessel. Note that while India doesn't have a single minesweeper, Pakistan has 5, and even Iran has 1 in its fleet. High time Indian Navy applies common sense and impresses upon the government of India to give a better offer to the UK Navy and buy out the 2 Albion class LPDs.