Visby class corvette
Encyclopedia
The Visby is the latest class of corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
to be adopted by the Royal Swedish Navy after the Göteborg
Göteborg class corvette
The Göteborg class is a class of corvettes in the Swedish Navy, built between 1990 and 1993. The class is armed with eight RBS-15 anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, one 57mm cannon and one 40mm cannon....
and the Stockholm
Stockholm class corvette
Stockholm class corvette is a corvette class in the Swedish Navy. Built in Karlskrona 1984–1985, it is armed with eight RBS15 anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, one 57mm cannon and several machine guns. In 1999/2000 the two units in the class were upgraded in the Karlskrona shipyard Kockums...
class corvettes. The ship's design heavily emphasizes "low visibility" or stealth technology
Stealth technology
Stealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...
. The first ship in the class is named after Visby
Visby
-See also:* Battle of Visby* Gotland University College* List of governors of Gotland County-External links:* - Visby*...
, the main city on the island of Gotland
Gotland
Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
. The class has received widespread international attention because of its capabilities as a stealth ship
Stealth ship
A stealth ship is a ship which employs stealth technology construction techniques in an effort to ensure that it is harder to detect by one or more of radar, visual, sonar, and infrared methods...
.
The ships are designed by Swedish Defence Materiel Administration
Swedish Defence Materiel Administration
The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration is a Swedish government agency that reports to the Ministry of Defence. The agency is responsible for the supply of materiel to the Swedish defence organisation. It is located in Stockholm.-External links:* - Official site...
(FMV) and built by Kockums AB. The first ship of the class was launched in 2000 and since then the construction has been fraught with repeated delays. Finally in December 2009, the first two ships of the class were delivered to the Royal Swedish Navy by the FMV
Swedish Defence Materiel Administration
The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration is a Swedish government agency that reports to the Ministry of Defence. The agency is responsible for the supply of materiel to the Swedish defence organisation. It is located in Stockholm.-External links:* - Official site...
, albeit with greatly reduced operational capability.
Design
The hull is constructed with a sandwich design consisting of a PVCPVC
Polyvinyl chloride is a plastic.PVC may also refer to:*Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military honor*Peripheral venous catheter, a small, flexible tube placed into a peripheral vein in order to administer medication or fluids...
core with a carbon fibre and vinyl laminate (see also the Oceanic-Creations
Oceanic-Creations
Oceanic-Creations AB is a company based in Sweden, founded in 1986 around the so-called Oceanic-Creations Composite Technology , a special process for producing a carbon fibre based construction material. The company has a production plant in Varna, Bulgaria...
spin-off). There are multiple advantages to using composite materials in ship hulls. Good conductivity and surface flatness means a low radar signature, while good heat insulation lowers the infrared signature and increases survivability in case of fire. The composite sandwich used is also non-magnetic, which lowers the magnetic signature. Composites are also very strong for their relative weight, and less weight means a higher top speed and better maneuverability. The composite weighs roughly 50% less than the equivalent strength steel.
The Visby's angular design reduces its radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
signature (or radar cross section
Radar cross section
Radar cross section is a measure of how detectable an object is with a radar. A larger RCS indicates that an object is more easily detected.An object reflects a limited amount of radar energy...
). John Nilsson, one of the designers, told BBC News Online: "We are able to reduce the radar cross section by 99%. That doesn't mean it's 99% invisible, it means that we have reduced its detection range." Even the 57 mm cannon barrel can be folded into the turret to reduce its cross section. There are plans for additional improvements in this area, especially for the deck rails and masts.
History
Much of the design was based on the experiences learned from the experimental ship HSwMS SmygeHMS Smyge
HMS Smyge was an experimental ship of the Swedish Navy used to test stealth technology. Experiences from the Smyge were used while planning the Visby class corvettes. Today Smyge is used for training at the Swedish Navy Academy-External links:*...
. The class was originally designed to be divided into two subcategories where some ships were optimized for surface combat and others for submarine hunting; however, this was changed due to cutbacks.
A helicopter, such as the AgustaWestland A109M selected by Sweden, can land, take off, and refuel on the upper deck. A helicopter hangar was originally planned but was considered to be too cramped and was removed.
The ships took an exceptionally long time from launch to delivery and the construction has been fraught with repeated delays. In 2008, the only weapons system that had been integrated and tested in Visby was the gun.
Finally, on December 16, 2009, the first two of the corvettes were delivered to the Royal Swedish Navy by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration
Swedish Defence Materiel Administration
The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration is a Swedish government agency that reports to the Ministry of Defence. The agency is responsible for the supply of materiel to the Swedish defence organisation. It is located in Stockholm.-External links:* - Official site...
.
The two ships, K32 and K33, were delivered with underwater and surface/air sensors fully integrated. However, the only weapon that had been integrated and test fired on the ships was still the Bofors 57 Mk3 gun. The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration
Swedish Defence Materiel Administration
The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration is a Swedish government agency that reports to the Ministry of Defence. The agency is responsible for the supply of materiel to the Swedish defence organisation. It is located in Stockholm.-External links:* - Official site...
calls this version 4, which aims to get the ships into service and start training crews.
Version 5 is due in 2012, and is intended to supplement the ships with mine clearance systems, helicopter landing capability (only K31 is certified to date), anti-surface ship missiles and additional stealth adaption.
Although the design of the ships originally called for the installation of surface-to-air missiles, in 2008 the decision was made not to install any. This decision was made because of budget considerations.
Units
| Bow number | Ship name | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Service | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K31 | 17 February 1995 | 8 June 2000 | 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla (Sweden) Swedish navy 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla was founded in 2005 when the former Mine-layer and Surface flotillas joined together. The flotilla's home base is in Karlskrona, Blekinge and is a part of the Karlskrona naval base... |
PTK Visby* | ||
| K32 | 27 June 2003 | 16 December 2009 | 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla (Sweden) Swedish navy 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla was founded in 2005 when the former Mine-layer and Surface flotillas joined together. The flotilla's home base is in Karlskrona, Blekinge and is a part of the Karlskrona naval base... |
Active | ||
| K33 | 16 December 2004 | 16 December 2009 | 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla (Sweden) Swedish navy 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla was founded in 2005 when the former Mine-layer and Surface flotillas joined together. The flotilla's home base is in Karlskrona, Blekinge and is a part of the Karlskrona naval base... |
Active | ||
| K34 | 18 August 2005 | 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla (Sweden) Swedish navy 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla was founded in 2005 when the former Mine-layer and Surface flotillas joined together. The flotilla's home base is in Karlskrona, Blekinge and is a part of the Karlskrona naval base... |
PTK Visby* | |||
| K35 | 24 August 2006 | 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla (Sweden) Swedish navy 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla was founded in 2005 when the former Mine-layer and Surface flotillas joined together. The flotilla's home base is in Karlskrona, Blekinge and is a part of the Karlskrona naval base... |
PTK Visby* | |||
| K36 | Uddevalla | Cancelled | ||||
All systems for the ship Uddevalla were acquired, but the ship was later cancelled, so there are now plans to build a full Visby class simulator.
PTK Visby is the designation of the formation doing system tests and readying the ships for active service within the Royal Swedish Navy. The formation is under the 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla
3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla (Sweden)
Swedish navy 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla was founded in 2005 when the former Mine-layer and Surface flotillas joined together. The flotilla's home base is in Karlskrona, Blekinge and is a part of the Karlskrona naval base...
but takes its orders from Swedish Defence Materiel Administration
Swedish Defence Materiel Administration
The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration is a Swedish government agency that reports to the Ministry of Defence. The agency is responsible for the supply of materiel to the Swedish defence organisation. It is located in Stockholm.-External links:* - Official site...
. The system tests are taking a long time partly because of funding issues and partly because of the novel and cutting-edge nature of the platform.
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Popular culture
- The 2009 Transformers characters of Depthcharge and Sonar turn into Visby class corvettes.
- In the game Act of War: High TreasonAct of War: High TreasonAct of War: High Treason is an expansion pack for Act of War: Direct Action. It is developed by Eugen Systems and published by Atari.-Plot:...
, the Visby class corvette appears as a controllable unit.
External links
- BBC article
- FMV - Official homepage
- Kockums - Official homepage
- Swedish navy page on the Visby trials
- Naval-Technology - www.naval-technology.com