A Stirling engine retrofitted to Swedish submarine HMS Näcken. Photo courtesy of Kockums http://kockums.se/en/products-services/submarines/stirling-aip-system/stirling-aip-conversion/.
---
It appears the Swedish government in part raided the TKMS-Kockums' Malmo site out of concern that Swedish designed Stirling engine secrets were not being held securely enough. The Local ("Sweden's news in English") May 19, 2014 reports http://www.thelocal.se/20140519/swedes-took-engine-in-raid-on-german-sub-makers .
"Swedes 'took engine' in German sub site raid
UPDATED [May 19, 2014]: New details have emerged about why the Swedish military raided the Malmö premises of German defence giant Thyssen Krupp [on April 8, 2014]. A military expert tells The Local that submarines have become a "major concern" in Sweden since unrest in Ukraine.
- 'Kockums submarine raid may be illegal': lawyer (17 Apr 14)
- 'Baffling' Swedish raid on German sub makers (15 Apr 14)
UPDATED: New details have emerged about why the Swedish
military raided the Malmö premises of German defence giant Thyssen Krupp last
month. A military expert tells The Local that submarines have become a
"major concern" in Sweden since unrest in Ukraine.
Tensions between Sweden and the German company Thyssen Krupp
Marine Systems (TKMS) took a surprising turn in April when the Swedish Defence
Materiel Administration (FMV) carried out a raid on the Malmö shipyard
belonging to Kockums, Thyssen Krupp's Swedish subsidiary.
It was initially unknown what exactly the administration's
soldiers got away with, but one military expert said the entire incident was
"very unusual". Kockums' head of security was relieved of his duties
on the same day.
An FMV spokeswoman said soon after that the raid was "a
routine transportation of defence material".
On Monday, the Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN) revealed that
FMV had removed parts of the Stirling submarine engine in a move that created a
storm of confusion and irritation among Kockums' heads. The information came via an inside source that DN said
"had a strong connection to the proceedings".
On the day of the raid, April 8th [2014], two trucks pulled into
the Kockums site in Malmö with the backup of the Swedish military. They
promptly loaded their trucks, with what is believed to be the engine parts, and
took them away.
[Coincidence or not? I published my article http://gentleseas.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/stirling-aip-on-chinese-type-041-yuan.html Intellectual Property, Stirling AIP on Chinese Type 041 Yuan Submarine at 5.31pm, April 8, 2014 Eastern Australian time. In Sweden that was at 9.31am, April 8, 2014. Was the Swedish raid on TKMS-Kockums in Malmo a few hours after my article?]
[Coincidence or not? I published my article http://gentleseas.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/stirling-aip-on-chinese-type-041-yuan.html Intellectual Property, Stirling AIP on Chinese Type 041 Yuan Submarine at 5.31pm, April 8, 2014 Eastern Australian time. In Sweden that was at 9.31am, April 8, 2014. Was the Swedish raid on TKMS-Kockums in Malmo a few hours after my article?]
The source said that the Kockums' chairman had known about
the FMV plans in advance but "was not at all prepared that they would go
this far".
The raid was prompted, the source added, by fears that
information about the engine could end up in the wrong hands after talks of a
potential submarine deal came to an end.
Gunnar Hult, a professor at Sweden's National Defence
College who specializes in military technology, said that the information in DN
was in line with what he had heard.
"Submarines in Sweden are much more important recently
considering events in Ukraine and the fact that there's a lot more Russian
action in the Baltic Sea vicinty," he told The Local on Monday.
"Whereas in the nineties after the fall of the Soviet
Union, people thought that maybe we don't need as many submarines as we've had
in the past. This has changed dramatically."
The defence minister, he pointed out, has announced plans to
build a third new submarine and several extra Gripen jets.
"I think there's a major concern in the Swedish
population about all this. But I still agree with the politicians, it would be
extremely unlikely to see Russian action against Sweden. If they do anything,
it's much more likely to be in Ukraine or the Baltic states."
DN reported that the raid was part of a move to bring the
engine parts to a secret location where both parties could go over the
information together and clarify ownership.
The material is now reported to be stored in the secure
location, which is accessible to both parties."
Pete
Pete
No comments:
Post a Comment