Note: Peter is away for his birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETE!!)
As I highlighted in March, Sweden's entry into NATO has accelerated Sweden's overall military procurement, and with the publication of a document (in Swedish) by the Swedish Parliamentary Defense Committee, they are now looking at long-term programs for the 2030s.
According to Navalnews, 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 Belkinge-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 Belkinges are completed, for delivery after 2038. The fourth sub will expand the 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 article, Sweden decided to construct four new corvettes in 2020, and the Luleå-class corvettes (named after small coastal towns) 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 - SAAB contributed to the basic design of the LMV, and also provided composite superstructures.
The Visbys will now undergo an MLU to remain in service to 2040.
The 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 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, so 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 SIGNIT ship HSwMS Artemis in Poland.
Update - 2/05/2024
Navalnews interviews the Swedish Navy Chief on the sideline of the Sea Air Space 2024 convention, and confirms Sweden has already integrated into NATO