Europe and Canada Step Up Naval Logistics

This blog post was first published on Military Balance+ on 17 July 2025

NATO’s ability to sustain maritime operations relies heavily on a range of critical enablers, with replenishment-at-sea (RAS) playing a crucial role. The United States has long served as a major provider of the Alliance’s underway-replenishment needs, but European countries and Canada are altering this dynamic by investing in their replenishment fleets to enhance their operational autonomy. The adoption of larger replenishment platforms, at least initially, aimed to bolster European and Canadian navies with the capacity to support more out-of-area operations. However, these decisions have now proven fortuitous considering Washington’s invocation that alliance members take on greater responsibility for their own security.  

Although the US Navy is increasingly looking to prioritize the Indo-Pacific, the primary driver behind Europe and Canada’s efforts appears to be a shared commitment to enhance self-sufficiency and long-range deployability, rather than direct concern about a US strategic shift. In this context, the commissioning of heavier, more versatile logistic platforms by European and Canadian navies represents a significant step toward greater operational flexibility and expeditionary outreach. These investments underscore that non-US NATO navies are increasingly able to conduct longer and more sustained deployments with less reliance on the US.

Ready to replenish

Non-US NATO members currently field 31 RAS-capable platforms. These vessels provide fuel, ammunition, food, spare parts and other supplies to sustain the operations of national and allied combat units and reduce their need to return to port. This logistical support is particularly valuable for long-duration missions and for maintaining a persistent maritime presence. The advent of new and more complex generations of surface combatants has been another driver behind the push to invest in modernized replenishment capabilities. In addition, recent combat experience has served as a reminder of the demanding sustainment requirements of high-intensity warfighting operations. While numerical growth in RAS fleets in Europe and Canada will be modest over the next five years, capacity and capability improvements will be significant. For some navies, this also marks the reintroduction of a replenishment capability following a period of budget-driven reductions over the past 15 years that saw older units decommissioned without replacement.

Currently, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain are in the process of procuring replacements and additions for ageing replenishment vessels introduced in the 1970s and 1980s, which have now reached the end of their respective service lives and are no longer suited to meet future operational requirements. These new units are among the largest and most capable in Europe. Designed as flexible, multi-role platforms, they can transfer fuel, fresh water, ammunition and solid stores, but are also fitted with command spaces, medical facilities and critical maintenance space. Most designs also incorporate a helicopter hangar, facilitating vertical replenishment, humanitarian assistance operations and support in surveillance and security roles.

New ships, new shipbuilders

The procurement of these new replenishment vessels also highlights notable developments in the European naval shipbuilding industry. Germany, for example, is acquiring two new replenishment ships in part from a civilian shipyard – traditionally focused on large cruise ships – which has not held a military contract for decades. Meanwhile, Portugal’s decision in 2024 to contract Turkey’s STM is also notable, marking the first and probably trend-setting instance of a Turkish shipyard constructing a warship for another NATO member, a reflection of Turkey’s emergence as both a naval player and military shipbuilder. These cases underscore a broader trend: the diversification and expansion of the European military-shipbuilding base.

Across the Atlantic, Canada is also constructing two large replenishment vessels. Based on the German Type-702 design, the future Protecteur-class will be the largest naval vessels ever built in Canada and reflect the same multi-role configuration adopted in European designs. However, the program has suffered significant delays and cost overruns.

UK RAS capability declines

The United Kingdom’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is in a somewhat different situation compared to its European NATO counterparts. For decades, it represented by far the largest and most capable replenishment arm of any Western European naval force, a reflection of the Royal Navy’s ambitions as a globally deployable navy. However, this capability has deteriorated considerably in recent years while other European navies have been boosting their capabilities. The RFA has modernised its core tanker fleet with the induction of the four South Korean-built Tide-class ships between 2017 and 2019. But it has struggled to crew and maintain other vessels, which have either been mothballed or sold off. The RFA has seen its number of active replenishment vessels decline from nine to four in the past five years, including the premature withdrawal of the relatively new Wave-class support tankers. Of greatest current concern has been the withering away of the RFA’s inventory of solid support ships, which left the Royal Navy without such a vessel for its current carrier strike group deployment to the Indo-Pacific. To partially substitute for this shortfall – an issue amplified by Tide-class vessels being increasingly diverted to other missions – the Royal Norwegian Navy’s only large auxiliary and near-sister-ship of the Tide class, HNoMS Maud, is supporting the UK-led deployment.  

A critical program for both the Royal Navy and the RFA is the procurement of three new Fleet Solid Support ships. However, this program has been delayed and troubled, pushing the arrival of the new ships to the early 2030s and leaving a potentially significant capability deficit. In this respect, the RFA’s problems may have been compounded by the fact that it has stuck to a traditional model of procuring specialist tankers for fuel resupply and separate vessels for dry stores and ammunition resupply, unlike the modern trend of more multi-role platforms.

Europe and Canada are not alone in refocusing on underway replenishment in recent years. The US is gradually renewing its own RAS fleet, which is largely comprised of heavy single-role units. Meanwhile, other major and regional naval powers – including China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and South Korea – are also investing in the expansion or modernization of their replenishment capabilities. However, the European and Canadian programs will, albeit slowly, help boost the ability of non-US NATO navies to rely on their own resources for more sustained operations in the future.