The Luleå class is a Swedish corvette class under development. In total four ships are planned to be built by Saab Kockums. The first two ships are to be commissioned by 2030 and two more by 2035. In June 2023 it was announced that the ships would receive names after Swedish coastal cities:
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Luleå class |
| Builders | Saab Kockums |
| Operators |  Swedish Navy |
| Preceded by | Visby class |
| In commission | 2030 |
| Planned | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Corvette |
| Length | >100 m (330 ft) |
HSwMS Luleå, HSwMS Norrköping, HSwMS Trelleborg, and HSwMS Halmstad.[1][2]
Development
editIn January 2021 Saab Kockums was awarded a contract for the product definition phase of the Visby gen 2 corvettes by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV). These ships were intended to be an evolved version of the Visby-class corvettes currently in service with the Swedish Navy. However, a rapidly changing geopolitical situation in large part due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and Sweden's subsequent application to join NATO led to the cancellation of the Visby gen 2 in favour of a clean sheet design, the Luleå class.[3][4][5]
As the Swedish Navy wants the Luleå class built and commissioned quickly it has been reported that the hulls will be built abroad while outfitting of the ships will be handled by Saab Kockums in Sweden. A similar arrangement was also used for the construction of HSwMS Artemis.[5][6]
Design
editThe Luleå class will be the largest ships in service with the Swedish Navy once they are commissioned at over 100 metres (330 ft) long, with increased range and endurance being important factors. The ships will be primarily armed with surface-to-air missiles (with capability similar to Patriot).[5] In May 2024 Saab signed a contract with British shipbuilder Babcock for the design of the future ship class.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Det ska marinens nya fartyg heta" (in Swedish). Forsvarsmakten. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ Liikamaa, Amanda (2023-06-23). "Marinens nya fartyg döps till HMS Luleå". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-08-19.
- ^ "Saab får två kontrakt för nästa generations korvetter för svenska marinen". Start (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-07-04.
- ^ "Nya ytstridsfartyg". www.fmv.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-07-04.
- ^ a b c "Försämrat säkerhetsläge stoppar utvecklingen av nya Visbykorvetter". Blekinge Läns Tidning (in Swedish). 2023-02-15. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
- ^ Staff, Naval News (2019-04-20). "Future Swedish Navy SIGINT vessel launched in Poland". Naval News. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
- ^ "Saab väljer Babcock för design av Luleå-klassen". Försvarssektorn (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-05-25.