Tide-class

The Tide class is a group of four fast fleet tankers built for the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the first of which entered service in 2017. The design is a derivative of BMT Defence Services' AEGIR-26, itself traced to a civilian tanker design by Skipskonsulent of Norway. The Ministry of Defence placed the order with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (now Hanwha Ocean) of South Korea on 22 February 2012 at a contract price of £452m for the hulls, with a further £150m to be spent in Britain; the final hull cost rose to £550m. No British yard tendered for the work. On 14 November 2012 the names Tidespring (A136), Tiderace (A137) and Tidesurge (A138) were revived from the 1950s Tide-class oilers, joined by the new name Tideforce (A139). The battle honour board earned by the earlier Tidespring during the 1982 Falklands War, including Operation Paraquet at South Georgia, was shipped to Korea for installation aboard the new vessel.

The tankers are double-hulled in accordance with MARPOL rules, unlike the single-hulled Rover- and Leaf-class ships they replaced. Three abeam replenishment-at-sea stations handle diesel oil, aviation fuel and fresh water, with an astern rig in addition; the hangar and flight deck permit vertical RAS. The deck is stressed for the Chinook, while the enclosed hangar takes a Merlin or Wildcat. Propulsion is a combined diesel-electric or diesel (CODELOD) arrangement, with medium-speed diesels driving twin shafts. Sensors include the Kelvin Hughes Integrated Bridge System with three SharpEye radars and a Servowatch IPMS. All four are fitted-for two Phalanx CIWS, forward and aft, and two DS30B Mk 1 30 mm guns mounted aft on either beam; in RFA practice these are shipped only for higher-risk deployments east of Suez rather than for home-waters work such as FOST.

First steel for Tidespring was cut on 24 June 2014 and she was named on 7 October 2015. Delivery slipped, attributed by procurement minister Harriett Baldwin to electrical design work and Multi-Cable Transit insulation requirements. Tidespring docked at Falmouth on 2 April 2017 for seventeen weeks of weapons and communications fitting-out by A&P Group, entering service on 27 November 2017. Tiderace followed on 2 August 2018, Tidesurge on 20 February 2019 and Tideforce on 30 July 2019. Tidespring deployed with Carrier Strike Group 21 carrying both Phalanx mounts and both 30 mm guns. Tiderace has since been placed at extended readiness as an uncrewed reserve.

The Royal Norwegian Navy ordered a single AEGIR-18R derivative, HNoMS Maud (A530), on 28 June 2013 for NOK 1,320m with full offsets, replacing HNoMS Tyr and Valkyrien. Maud carries 7,000 tonnes of F76, 300 tonnes of F44/JP-5, 200 tonnes of ammunition and 40 ISO containers, and includes a 48-bed hospital with operating theatre, isolation ward and CT scanner. She has two abeam RAS rigs, a stern reel, a 25-tonne crane and a vehicle side ramp, a CH-53-capable flight deck, an NH90 hangar and four Sea PROTECTOR remote weapon stations. Steel was cut on 14 April 2015 and she was commissioned on 21 May 2019.