Features: As an auxiliary support ship, T-AKE will directly contribute to the ability of the Navy to maintain a forward presence. In its primary mission role, the T-AKE will provide logistic lift from sources of supply such as friendly ports, or at sea from specially equipped merchant ships by consolidation, and will transfer cargo (ammunition, food, limited quantities of fuel, repair parts, ship store items, and expendable supplies and material) at sea to station ships and other naval warfare forces. In its secondary mission, the T-AKE may be required to operate in concert with a Henry J. Kaiser-Class (T-AO 187) Oiler as a substitute station ship to provide direct logistics support to the ships within a Carrier Battle Group.

The primary goal of the T-AKE program is to provide effective fleet underway replenishment capability at the lowest life cycle cost. To meet that goal, the ship will be designed and constructed to commercial specifications & standards and certified/classed by the American Bureau of Shipping, United States Coast Guard, and other regulatory bodies. The ships will be operated by the Military Sealift Command.