laststandonzombieisland

The Admiralty back in 2019 spitballed a concept dubbed the “Littoral Response Group,” a sort of pocket-sized amphibious warfare task group that could still be built around the Royal Navy’s shrinking force of ‘phibs and Royal Marines to deploy from them.

The trial LRG deployment, to the Baltic in 2021, was made up of the 20,000-ton amphibious assault ship HMS Albion (L14), the 16,000-ton landing dock RFA Mounts Bay (L3008), plus an escort in the form of the Type 23 frigate HMS Lancaster, with embarked Wildcat helicopters from 847 Naval Air Squadron and a light battalion-sized element of Royal Marines from 45 and 30 Commando.

Now, a pared-down Indo-Pacific-bound LRG, which is now forward deployed “East of Suez” after service in the Mediterranean, consists of just two vessels– neither one a proper warship. Both are Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, manned by civilian RFA staff with RN detachments for commo and gunnery, roughly akin to the civilian mariners of the MSC here in America.

The two vessels, the 16,000-ton dock landing ship RFA Lyme Bay (L3007) and 28,000-ton converted container ship RFA Argus (A135)— have a self-defense armament of just three 20mm CIWS, two DS30B Mk 1 30 mm guns, two Oerlikon 20 mm guns, 8 .50 cal Brownings and 10 7.62mm L7 GPMGs between them as well as a few soft kill options such as Seagnat chaff launchers. Nothing with a range further than about 6,000 yards.

And you thought the LCS was underarmed!

Capable of supporting over 500 embarked troops and RN personnel, they have deployed to the Pacific with just 3 large Merlin Mk 4 helicopters of 845 Naval Air Squadron, some mixed UAVs, and an embarked company of about 130 Marines from 40 Commando.

Argus and Lyme Bay are currently at the Larsen & Toubro shipyard in India for maintenance, before heading into the Pacific.