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Two A26s Ordered by Sweden

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Saab-Kockum's new video on the A26. (Courtesy Saab A26 website)
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Sweden's AFP/The Local (news@thelocal.se) reports June 30, 2015 http://www.thelocal.se/20150630/saab-signs-deal-worth-billions-for-swedish-subs:

Saab signs deal worth billions for Swedish subs
[What the two new A26s might look like. (Artwork by Saab AB)]

Saab signs deal worth billions for Swedish subs

UPDATED: A deal between Swedish defence giant Saab and Sweden's military for two submarines worth 8.6 billion kronor (US$1.04 billion) is set to boost jobs in the Nordic country, chief executive Håkan Buskhe said on [June 30, 2015].
“We are of course very pleased,” Saab chief executive Håkan Buskhe told reporters at a press conference in Visby, where he is attending Sweden's politics festival Almedalen Week.
He said the order would create around one hundred jobs at the Swedish defence and security company.
“This means some hundred new employees in both Malmö and Karlskrona,” he said.
The order from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) covers the construction of two new Type A26 submarines, as well as a mid-life upgrade for two Gotland-class submarines.
Deliveries of the two new subs will take place in 2022 and 2024, Saab said in a statement.
The upgraded subs will be delivered in late 2018 and late 2019.
Saab said the A26 was a high-tech submarine with “long-endurance submerged performance and excellent manoeuvrability in all waters”.
It added the new subs would be “highly survivable thanks to modern underwater stealth technology and a unique heritage of shock resistant design”.
The subs will be powered by conventional diesel-electric propulsion machinery and equipped with the Kockums Stirling Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) system, making them difficult to detect.
In April, the Swedish government announced plans to raise defence spending by 10.2 billion kronor ($1.18 billion) for 2016-2020, mostly to modernize ships to detect and intercept submarines, amid increasing Russian military activity in the Baltic Sea region.
Sweden has a long-standing tradition of military non-alliance, but support for Nato membership has increased in recent years, largely due to fears of a potentially aggressive Russia.
A major poll last month suggested that nearly one in three think Sweden should join the defence alliance
AFP/The Local (news@thelocal.se)"
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COMMENT

At around 1,900 tonnes (surfaced or submerged?) the A26 will be much heavier than Sweden is used to. This would be a large sub to move in the very shallow and narrow waters of its mainly Baltic operating area. The A26's size will improve Sweden's ability to confront Russian forces outside the Baltic - in the North, Norwegian or Barents Seas.


With a large horizontal diver/diver delivery vehicle tube large displacement UUVs (LDUUVs) could be launched to more safely approach the Russian Baltic Fleet's Base at Kaliningrad Oblast (an enclave). 

Sweden is accustomed to working with 1,500 tonne (surfaced) Gotlands and 1,400 tonne (surfaced) Sodermanlands. One reason Sweden may be building A26s at 1,900 tonnes is to provide a sub with increased export potential to the Asia-Pacific market where ever heavier subs are being bought. It is possible a smaller version A26 might also be exported to Poland and Norway and larger version to Canada and the Netherlands.

While the two A26s are being built and 2 Gotlands overhauled Sweden will rely on three subs - the two Sodermanlands and the third Gotland class.

Pete 

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