HMS Mersey recently participated in joint exercises with the Swedish Navy’s HMS Nyköping, a Visby class corvette.
The collaboration was facilitated through the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) partnership, which aims to strengthen cooperation among member nations.
The JEF partnership brings together a group of like-minded nations, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, and other Northern European countries, to provide a high-readiness, rapid-reaction force capable of responding to various security challenges.
This recent exercise underlines the mutual benefits that the JEF partnership offers to its members in terms of joint training and shared expertise.
Today HMS Mersey has conducted exercises with HMS Nyköping 🇸🇪⚓️
It has been a pleasure working with the Swedish Navy through our @JEFnations partnership. We hope to work together again as a NATO member soon #StrongerTogether #BetterTogether @ForsvarsdepSv pic.twitter.com/d35x5alhEy
— HMS MERSEY (@hms_mersey) April 6, 2023
HMS Mersey is a River-class patrol vessel commissioned in 2003, the ship is primarily tasked with safeguarding the UK’s fishing stocks, protecting national interests, and conducting maritime security operations.
The Visby class corvette is a state-of-the-art stealth ship operated by the Swedish Navy. Launched in the early 2000s, these vessels are designed for various roles, including surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures, and reconnaissance. The Visby class incorporates advanced stealth technology to minimise its radar, infrared, acoustic, and magnetic signatures, making it difficult for adversaries to detect.
The RN hates the word “corvette” but the Nyköping is a nice little ship, currently configured for the ASW role and painted with “dazzle” which aids her stealth characteristics.
She will be receiving a mid life upgrade soon which will apparently include the installation of a SAM system, upgraded anti-ship missiles, ASW torpedoes, improved sensors and enhanced electronic warfare capabilities. She aso has the excellent Mk3 Bofors 57mm gun selected for our Type 31 frigates
She’s a great ship for Sweden’s needs.
👍Very well-armed and designed for its size.
LINK
An opportunity here for the U.K. if we were so inclined. Sweden are about to build a “Visby Generation 2 ” Longer range, better crew facilities, naval strike etc. A joint programme instead of the T32’s? I can dream!
They look cool, but I’d rather have something with a hangar, plumbing for PODS, and CAMM missiles. For the same cost, I’d rather have another batch of T31s (or just some more helicopters).
For the RN, Visbys are neither one thing nor the other: too fighty/expensive for constabulary/presence use, not fighty enough to actually fight in a blue-water navy (although fingers crossed they actually get some SAMs in the upgrade). Sweden’s needs are not ours.
Not overly sure about not our needs. NW Scotland lots of islands with our sub base there, Visby type boats could be useful. Defence of Northern Norway, could be useful in hit and run raids out of the fjords. English Chanel, possibly better to escort potential enemy warships than a blue water frigate. Based out of Cyprus, Gib or working together with a T31 in the Red Sea could also be useful.
I agree that for fishery protection, constabulary duties the Rivers are capable vessels. Howerver, for green water, brown water duties a frigate is to big. Just for a historical note, did we and the US say the same about MTBs/PT boats and look at the trouble they caused.
Let the FFGs/DDGs do the job they were designed for, blue water operations.
Its horses for courses and what we can afford. The Swedes are about to join NATO and their Visby’s will become part of the Alliance. We have gone for cruiser-sized frigates!
I’m also interested to see what the Pohjanmaas are capable of: modern frigate-sized corvettes. Are they really corvettes, or something more like an ice-hardened Anzac?
They will come in at about 4,200 long tons, which does put them in the frigate class. The Finns have decided to arm them well, Pohjanmaa-class ships will have the Mk3 Bofors 57mm dual purpose naval gun, surface to surface and SAM missiles, ASW torpedoes, mines, a CIWS and probably a decoy system.
The Finnish Navy has argued that the size of the new ships is a result of combining multiple missions within a single hull. In particular, the ability to lay naval mines has been raised as one of the key features necessitating a larger vessel
At a unit cost of $250m in 2019$, it’s expensive for a 620 t ship with a range of only 2000 miles. Building a hull of plastic composites costs far more than steel or steel/ aluminium as we found with Hunt and Sandown classes. No idea how stealthy the ship is in practice.
With the loss of minesweepers’ ability to do coastal patrol, the RN is going to be rather short of littoral assets. Whether a Visby equivalent or a River batch 3 would be most useful, I’m not sure. But a River type would be more flexible with longer range and endurance.
Helicopters please. ASW Merlin.
Sorry but the Visby just doesn’t look like a war fighting ship. The current and projected RN frigates look like they mean business. Respect to the Swedes but this is a Cristiano Ronaldo corvette compared to the RN’s Terry Butcher frigates (including the blood soaked bandage and shirt 🤕😂).
Don’t think space /size wise the Visby2 will come anywhere near what a T-32 will have. double the firepower, but thats comes down the the expected threat enviroment the Baltic is not very big so no need for long endurance but close to hostiles so need to be able to protect against massed attacks, T-32 will be deployed much further from home but needs a good self defence package espicially as it won’t be as close to re supply/arm point. so 48 xCAMM/-er, 57mm & 40mm plus S-200 with martlett and something like sea-Brimstone doesn’t need long range surface attack.
Sweden has a navy configured for littoral Baltic ops Geoffrey, the RN is a Blue water navy and most if it’s vessels and spending should reflect that.
On the Swedish ships, agree they look the part.
The Visby class is very well-armed for a 640-ton vessel.
I hear they might soon be fitted with air defence missiles.
HMS Mersey is in Liverpool this weekend.