Design Phase of Sweden’s Future Sub Programme Takes Another Step Forward
Saab to Design Combat Management System for Swedish Submarines
07:52 GMT, June 29, 2010 defpro.com | Following the passing of two significant official milestones – the government’s approval to initiate the design phase and the parliament’s voting in favour of the procurement of two vessels in 2010 – the ball is now in the industry’s court in an effort to develop Sweden’s next-generation submarine. In February 2010, the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (Försvarets materielverk, FMV) awarded Kockums AB, a 100% subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, with a contract for the overall design and on 16 June the parliament voted to allow the government to procure two new submarines during 2010, as planned in the proposed spring budget presented earlier this year.
Now, the Swedish defence and security company Saab has been awarded a SEK100 million (€10.49 million, $ 12.83 million) contract by Kockums for overall design of the combat management system as well as solutions for integrating the system aboard the next-generation submarines. Building on experience from the delivery of 200 naval command and control systems for submarine and surface vessels, the combat management system will play a key role in the designated future tasks of the A26-class submarines.
Gunilla Fransson, Head of the business section, Security and Defence Solutions within Saab, said “Saab has world leading expertise within the area of naval command and control systems and our strategic cooperation with Kockums is very important for us. We look forward to being part of the development of Sweden’s next generation of submarines.”
According to Kockums, the naval capabilities of the new generation will focus on littoral operations, however, without abandoning its significant ocean-going capabilities. An emphasis will be placed on the submarine’s intelligence gathering capabilities and its ability to operate as stealthy as possible, remaining submerged for long periods due to its Kockums Stirling AIP system (air-independent propulsion). The latter has already been successfully operated with Gotland-class submarines, which made them most interesting to the US Navy, the latter having leased a Gotland-class vessel for naval exercise purposes from 2005 to 2007. As Kjell Göthe, Senior Vice President PR & Communications at Kockums told defpro.com earlier this year, the combination of sensors and noiseless propulsion will enable the submarine to see and hear everything over a wide area while remaining undetected.
Although having expected the parliament’s vote in favour of the procurement plan, Kockums’ CEO Ola Alfredsson greeted the decision, saying: “The procurement of two new submarines will mean an essential upgrade of the Swedish submarine capacity. Our new submarine construction represents the latest in marine technology.”
To meet man-power and professional requirements of the design phase, Kockums hired new employees, including system and development engineers. The parliament’s decision, therefore, is an important signal for Kockums that procurement of the new submarines will proceed as scheduled and as expected by industry, aiming for the launching of the first vessel in 2017.
The Swedish programme emerged from a changeful history at the negotiating table. Several years ago, Sweden was involved in talks with Norway and Denmark within the framework of the so-called “Viking” project to build a tri-national next-generation submarine. However, after Denmark decided to no longer operate submarines in the future, Norway also left the project and it continued on as a national Swedish programme. Nevertheless, Norway has shown continued interest and is examining a possible future purchase of the submarine. For the time being, this remains an exclusively Swedish programme which, so far, is intended to provide two submarines for the Swedish Navy. However, the final number of next-generation submarines to be purchased has not yet been decided by the government.
Nicolas von Kospoth
