Fleet Solid Support: From Concept to Construction

Presented by: Charles Moss (BMT), Ian Randles (MOD), & Simon Jones (Navantia UK)

About the Talk: About the Presenters (continued overleaf): FSS (Fleet Solid Support) is one of the Royal Navy's largest and most complex shipbuilding programmes. This lecture follows the journey from the original concept and early procurement attempts through to today's construction programme, exploring competition strategy, commercial and industrial approaches, ship design development, and the challenges of delivering a modern naval capability. Along the way, it examines the lessons learned, engineering and support considerations, and the realities of programme delivery that have shaped the project's progress from paper to production.

About the Presenters: Charles Moss BEng MSc FRINA is a Chief Naval Architect at BMT, where he is currently BMT's Chief Engineer for the Functional Design of FSS. He has 30 year's experience in Naval and Auxiliary ship design joining BMT as a graduate from Southampton University. He has held senior design positions on a number of programmes including the Queen Elizabeth, Tide and now FSS programmes. Charles has been involved with the FSS programme for a number of years supporting requirement development via NDP, bidding and Functional Design with Navantia and now supporting Navantia through Detailed design and into production.

Ian Randles MEng MSc CEng MRINA is Chief Engineer for the UK Ministry of Defence's FSS programme within the National Armaments Director Group. He is responsible for engineering assurance, safety, certification and technical governance across one of the Royal Navy's largest shipbuilding programmes. Having held engineering and leadership roles across naval shipbuilding and maritime acquisition, Ian has supported FSS from requirements development and competitive procurement through to detailed design and construction. He now leads the Authority engineering team overseeing delivery of the three ships, working with industry partners, classification societies and regulatory authorities to bring this critical capability into Royal Navy service. Simon Jones BEng (hons) CEng FRINA is Design & Product Development Director at Navantia UK, where he is responsible for developing next generation ship designs and providing engineering input into all major projects that NUK is bidding for its four yards in the UK. Simon previously worked for BMT as a Chief Engineer where he led several ship design projects from concept to functional design delivery. Prior to this he worked for BAE Systems and Cammell Laird, he has over 30 year's experience in the maritime sector since graduating from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Registration: We will be running this as a Hybrid Event: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1995946299110?aff=oddtdtcreator