Babcock to support design of Swedish Navy’s new Luleå-class surface combatant
The Swedish Navy has planned to buy four Luleå-class ships. (Image: Saab)
Saab has selected Babcock International Group to support the design for the development of the Swedish Navy’s new Luleå-class Surface Combatant.
Saab has been commissioned by FMV, the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, to design four ships for the Swedish Navy. Babcock will initially provide engineering support including structural design and auxiliary systems as part of an effort to complete the basic design phase.
Babcock and Saab will also work closely together to identify potential export markets for the Luleå design. The new collaboration has followed the Strategic Cooperation Agreement signed by Saab and Babcock at DSEI in September 2023.
Shephard Defence Insight noted that the future surface combatants would be called Luleå, Norrköping, Trelleborg and Halmstad.
In April 2024, Shephard reported that the programme had completed the first stage of the Product Definition Phase in 2023, and the second stage had been initiated. The current stage has been planned to be finished in mid-2025 followed by a building contract.
Should a contract be awarded in 2025, with construction starting the following year, the lead ship could be launched in 2028 and enter service in 2030. The second unit could be delivered in 2031 and the following two ships by the mid-2030s.
Related Programmes in Defence Insight
More from Naval Warfare
-
US Navy selects 25 companies for up to $1.9 billion nuclear submarine contract
The multi-award contract will support the scheduled repair and maintenance of nuclear-powered attack submarines at the US Navy’s primary public shipyards.
-
Royal New Zealand Navy outlines modernisation goals
The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) has a crunch time coming up as it looks to refresh its fleet before 2040, and prepares to begin operating Sikorsky MH-60R helicopters, although it is at the back of a long ordering queue. A key part of any solution is looking at what neighbouring Australia is buying.
-
US Coast Guard awards contracts for the construction of up to 150 aids to navigation vessels
Agreements with Inventech Marine Solutions and North River Boats cover the acquisition of trailerable aids to navigation boats and cutter boats - aids to navigation – small.