The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) confirmed to Naval News that it is looking at alternative “off the shelf” solutions besides Saab’s offering for the future Luleå-class program of the Royal Swedish Navy.
As Naval News was able to report as the first media outlet back in early April, the French FDI-type frigate is being discussed as a potential candidate for Swedish needs. At that stage there were no formal negotiations underway, but the roadmap aimed at strengthening cooperation between the two countries in the field of armaments which was signed by the French Minister for the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, and the Swedish Minister for Defence, Pål Jonson, at the Paris Air Show in the middle of June revealed that the FDI has by now formally become a candidate system for the Swedish next-generation surface ship program.
Naval News can now report further details on this development, after having received confirmation by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, FMV, that the program in question is indeed the Ytstridsfartyg 2030 (YSF2030) or Luleå-class. The program is to include the delivery of four heavy corvette with a capable air defence and an ASW-helicopter based aboard the vessels. The focus has been on a domestic design, with Saab through their Kockums division having received contracts for the basic design of the new class. This has also seen British shipbuilder Babcock involved in the design work, with the aim being to deliver a tailored design for the Swedish requirements.
In their email to Naval News, FMV explains that the Swedish Ministry of Defence has provided FMV with an additional task related to the YSF 2030 program, with the stated goal of FMV evaluating an “alternative procedure for the procurement of new surface combatants to the Swedish Armed Force”. This includes the evaluation of a number of different existing products from different suppliers, and the evaluation of the different manufacturers and their products will continue to the end of the year. Due to the confidentiality of the procurement process, FMV does not provide further details.
What exactly is the reasoning behind this perceived need for a second option for the program is unclear, but the schedule for the Luleå-class is extremely ambitious. The plan is to have the first vessel in service by 2030 with all four delivered by 2035. Even for an existing design that is a quick delivery pace, and considering that the vessels aren’t on order yet – the only contracts are those for the basic design which have been signed with Saab – and that there have been no surface warfare vessels even close in size or capability designed or built in Sweden, it might simply be a case of the authorities having come to the conclusion that the only possibility to achieve the schedule is to lean more heavily on an existing foreign design.
As a new member of NATO, representatives for the Swedish Navy have previously talked about the need for vessels capable of operations further out into the North Sea. Missions that might be included in this requirement are the kind of ASW-operations in the GIUK gap, with a secondary air defence role, that the FDI has been designed to perform.
Which designs are under consideration is not confirmed, but it is notable that rapid delivery is seen as one of the strong features of the FDI on the export market, with Naval Group in the interview in April stating that they would be able to meet a delivery pace for an export customer that corresponds to the Swedish need.
