Swedish Navy boosts submarine fleet navigation with ECPINS deal
The Gotland class, now covered by new navigation technology. (Photo: Saab)
The agreement between OSI Maritime Systems and the Royal Swedish Navy covers the nation’s entire underwater fleet.
The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration has signed a deal with OSI Maritime Systems to deploy the company’s Electronic Chart Precise Integrated Navigation System (ECPINS) system across Sweden’s entire submarine fleet and HSwMS Belos, the Swedish Navy’s submarine rescue ship.
The Royal Swedish Navy’s submarine fleet consists of five diesel-electric submarines, three Gotland-class (A19) boats and two Södermanland-class (A17) vessels, making the fleet 10-strong in total.
ECPINS is an example of a WECDIS (Warship Electronic Chart Display and Information System), meaning it performs high-tech real-time sensor fusion and displays the accurate navigation information that vessels need to ensure they travel and manoeuvre correctly. With a submarine fleet, that includes calculations of depth and dive data.
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Submarines regularly need to navigate with a minimal above-water signature, which restricts their ability to rely on global navigation satellite systems like GPS. ECPINS solves that problem with a “dived navigation methodology”, according to OSI. That translates as delivering reliable navigation data through advanced algorithms, using only a minimum of sensor inputs that could otherwise give away the submarine’s position.
ECPINS is currently used by the navies of eight NATO and allied nations for their submarine fleets, including the UK’s Royal Navy, and is the only WECDIS to be independently approved against NATO standards, specifically WECDIS STANAG 4564.
The Royal Swedish Navy deal includes planned integration of the system onto the nation’s two A26 Blekinge-class submarines when they become operational (projected for 2027 and 2028), replacing the Södermanland-class at a programme cost of US$1.5 billion.
OSI will also provide multi-year in-service support to the Royal Swedish Navy’s submarine fleet as part of the deal.
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