Nauta in Poland has launched a new SIGINT ship for the Royal Swedish Navy.
The launching ceremony took place in PGZ Stocznia Wojenna in Gdynia on April the 17th and, according to Saab, was attended by representatives of the Polish government, the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) and Saab, as well as representatives of the Royal Swedish Navy, the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment, the Embassy of Sweden and invited guests.
The first steel cutting took place in March 2018 followed by the keel-laying three months later. The new ship is 74 metres long with displacement of 2,200 tonnes.
“We are delighted to achieve a significant milestone within the contract for the construction of a signals intelligence ship, which will serve the Royal Swedish Navy”, said Gunnar Wieslander, Senior Vice President, Head of Saab Business Area Kockums.
“The launch of the signal intelligence ship is a significant event in the construction process. The vessel is a showcase of the high quality and technical capabilities of the shipyard and our partners”, said Adam Potrykus, acting President of the Board of Nauta Shiprepair Yard S.A.
Saab was awarded the contract to design and build the SIGINT ship, which will replace the Swedish Navy’s existing HMS Orion, by the Swedish Material Defence Administration in 2017.
Subsequently Saab selected Nauta Shiprepair Yard, part of PGZ Group, to construct, launch and perform the sea trials of the ship.
The new SIGINT ship will be given the name HMS Artemis.
Poland seems to build a good number of ships!
Is the top part a mission bay lab or a fixed instrument? Why do the Swedes use these where others choose planes?
Interesting that they have a dedicated vessel, where’s we use other assets with the capability attached, like surface escorts and SSN. An outfit based at Collingwood deploy on RN assets for EW And SIGINT roles and operate the Fleet Intelligence Centre. I guess our coverage and capabilities are so comprehensive as part of 5 Eyes we have no need for a dedicated vessel. I do not recall the RN ever having its own vessel? I also read of the trawler Gaul, lost in the Cold War, being used by the UK like the Russian AGI trawlers. How true that is… Read more »
The Gaul was either lost In a Storm whilst Fishing or Sunk/Captured by the Russians or Abducted by Aliens.
Either way, We’ll probably never know the truth.
Was the Gaul carrying the ATAC system at the time? How deep was the water where she went down?
They have a small navy. None of their surface combatants would be big enough. I should imagine their are technical considerations like the placement of aerials that drove the size too.
The German navy has three similar ships in the Oste class.
The Norwegian Intelligence Service has the wonderful Marjata.
I know the Type 45s has signal interception kit which is being installed now and such but never had a dedicated vessel