As I highlighted in March 2024, Sweden's March 7, 2024 entry into NATO has accelerated Sweden's overall military procurement. With the publication of a document (298 pages in Swedish) by the Swedish Parliamentary Defense Committee, Sweden is now looking at long-term programs for the 2030s.
According to Naval News, this report includes a new class of frigates for participation in NATO Standing Naval Forces, and a new submarine class to replace the Gotland boats in the late 2030s.
A30 submarine project
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| image: SAAB. The Blekinge-class will stop at two, with a follow-on class planned --- |
The Royal Swedish Navy's (RSwN) three A19 Gotland class submarines are now 28-years old, and should decommission in the late 2030s. The Swedish parliament is therefore considering building four A30 submarines after the Blekinges are completed, for delivery after 2038. The fourth sub will expand the Royal Swedish Navy's (RSwN's) active submarine force to 6 boats.
The A30 could be a smaller (less capable?) submarine than the A26, but could also carry more weapons.
New Frigates?
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| image: Finnish Navy. Pohjanmma-class --- |
As I also highlighted in my March 2024 article, Sweden decided to construct four new corvettes in 2020. These are the Luleå-class corvettes (named after small coastal towns) which are expected to be delivered from 2030.
These warships will be larger than the 640-tonnes displacement Visbys. They were initially planned as enlarged Visbys. But a clean sheet design was chosen and these ships could emerge as a cousin of Singapore's 1,200-tonne displacement Independence-class Littoral Mission Vessel (LMV). SAAB contributed to the basic design of the LMV, and also provided composite superstructures.
The Visbys will now undergo an mid life update (MLU) to remain in service to 2040.
The Swedish Parliamentary Defense Committee now advocates a follow-on procurement of surface combatants, with deliveries starting in the latter half of the 2030s. Naval News has suggested that a variant of the Finnish Pohjanmaa-class multirole large corvettes (117m long ships with a displacement of 4,300 tonnes) is a prime candidate for this new class of warships. As the Pohjanmaa class recently entered production, with the last ship scheduled for completion in mid-2028, Sweden could to take advantage of the 'hot' construction yard with a follow-on order.
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| image: Finnish Navy. Pohjanmaa-class production schedule --- |
Note that Sweden does not have large naval shipyards, and SAAB had to build the hull of the 4,000 tonne displacement SIGINT ship HSwMS Artemis in Poland.
Update - 2/05/2024
Naval News has posted a YouTube video interview with the Chief of the Royal Swedish Navy on the sidelines of the Sea Air Space 2024 convention and she confirms that Sweden has already integrated into NATO and is prepared to join the NATO standing MCM and Maritime groups.
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Sweden is also providing naval aid to Ukraine:
ReplyDelete"“The announcement of the SLWT delivery was subtly made within
the information that Sweden would support Ukraine with a weapons
package worth $680 million. This includes, among other items,
swift CB90 (Combat Boat 90) boats and ‘underwater’ weaponry…
Ukrainian sources infer that the aforementioned ‘underwater
weapon’ refers to the Torpedo 47.”"
See:
https://chuckhillscgblog.net/2024/02/21/ukraine-to-get-torpedo-47-and-combat-boat-90-from-sweden/
@anon
ReplyDeleteHey thanks for the link, I've been discussing with Pete whether I should write a 'fantasy' article about Ukraine operating a midget submarine for covert ops... was thinking a few donated Black Shark torpedos would scare the BSF into staying dockside at Novorossiysk.
If Ukraine gets a new submarine, it might be something like this:
ReplyDelete"The UUV300CB is a large, multifunctional underwater drone capable of autonomously
executing missions such as surface reconnaissance and mine laying. Another variant
known as UUV300CD features torpedo launchers on both the starboard and port sides.
"Measuring 11.5 meters in length with a diameter of 1.6 meters, the drone boasts a
full load weight of 50 tons. Propelled by an electric engine, it achieves a top
speed of 12 knots. Operating at depths of up to 300 meters, it boasts a range of
450 nautical miles at 5 knots."
See:
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2024/05/dsa-2024-new-torpedo-launching-uuv-from-china/