Lithuania is in discussions with German shipyard Abeking and Rasmussen to purchase an undisclosed number of Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) patrol boats. During IMDEX Asia 2023 company officials told Naval News that, while talks are ongoing, Lithuania has settled on a design similar to those used by neighbours Estonia and Latvia.
The Latvian boats were built in two batches between 2009 and 2013. Abeking and Rasmussen built the first two while Riga Shipyard built the final three. At 25 metres long they’re designed to perform a wide variety of missions in the Baltic Sea, including Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) protection, hydrographic survey and search and rescue. They’re typically equipped with two crew-operated 12.7mm machine guns and a rigid hull inflatable boat for most missions. This can be complemented by equipment mounted in a forward modular mission area that can accommodate ISO containerised payloads, including a 20mm cannon, of up to 6 tonnes.
Estonia procured one vessel directly from Germany for use with its maritime administration as a dedicated hydrographic platform. To perform that mission, it makes use of the modular space allocated forward to host sensors and hydrographic instruments. Since 2012, Estonia has been using the ship, named Jakob Presi, to map its territorial sea and EEZ to the level expected of a European Union member.
Naval News understands that Lithuania’s version of the vessel will be based on the same hull form, albeit, up-gunned. Originally the focus was on developing a fully containerised version of the Rheinmetall Oerlikon 35mm Millennium Gun, however, as requirements have shifted the focus has shifted towards full integration with the hull. The weapon itself will remain in the modular forward position but some of the support systems will be fitted elsewhere on the hull.
It seems likely that the new patrol boats will replace the Lithuanian Navies ageing Flyvefisken class modular patrol vessels. Lithuania bought the vessels second hand from Denmark in the early-to-mid 2000s, however, even then they were nearly 20 years old. While a smaller SWATH patrol boat may not be able to accomplish all of the Flyvefiskens missions their reduced price to operate may justify the loss in capability. Critically, the new patrol boats are likely to require fewer crew to operate, freeing up personnel for Lithuania’s newly expanded force of ex-Royal Navy minehunters and search and rescue vessels.
