The five surveillance boats that FMV has now delivered have undergone a service life extension program during which, among other tasks, the command bridge has been rebuilt and engines and sonar have been replaced.
“Despite the pandemic, we have managed to get most things in place within the schedule,” says Camilla Wallentinsson, project manager in naval equipment at FMV. “What made it possible was that everyone involved, including the Swedship Marin shipyard and subcontractors, did their utmost to get us to the finish line,” she adds.
National defense was prioritized in Sweden latest defense policy paper for 2016–2020, including submarine hunting capability. Patrol boats participate in protecting shipping and Sweden’s territorial waters from intrusion especially in Gothenburg, where 30 percent of Sweden’s foreign trade passes every year.
With the new systems fitted on the patrol boats, “the unit’s operational capability increases in several areas. Together with the expected re-establishment of an amphibious battalion in Göteborg, the capability for armed combat within the naval aera will be significantly improved,” Captain Magnus Augustinson, head of the 17th patrol boat company, comments.
The Swedish archipelago constitutes a complex environment which means that the Swedish Navy needs short reaction times. The patrol boats must be able to carry out several different tasks such as maritime surveillance, protection of shipping, submarine hunting and acting in the event of an attack. It requires both sensors and equipment that are adapted to the environment to achieve optimal effect.
Patrol boats are an important part of the country’s line of defense and constitute an important subset in the ongoing maritime surveillance. The system is also a qualified resource in, for example, submarine hunting operations, but also in other types of operations within the entire conflict scale, from the normal situation via security policy crisis to armed mission
Deputy Chief of the Navy, Brigadier General Peder Ohlsson
