Royal Swedish Navy DDG and FFG:s

bezobrazov

Post subject: Royal Swedish Navy DDG and FFG:s

Posted: June 29th, 2011, 12:27 am

Posts: 3406
Joined: July 29th, 2010, 2:20 pm

One of the first things I posted at the old Forum, back, I believe in 2009(?) were my takes on how a Swedish area air defence destroyer might lokk like. This is something that's wracked my brain ever since the middle of the 1980s when a group of associates, to which i was attached, and related to the Swedish Department of Defence and with some liason to the defence industry (Saab, Ericsson, Bofors etc) tried to conceive a model for a viable replacement for the recently withdrawn Halland-class destroyers and the remaining, obsolete frigates still in service, in 1982. Of course economic realities and a persistently defaitistic and defence-hostile Social-Democracy in power prevented anything but tentative, private sketches to ever be had made. The situation today, is tragicomically almost the same, though the Government is a Liberal-Centrist-Conservative one. But the current Defence Minister, Sven Tolgfors was a consientious objecter and thus has very little understanding for the real needs of the Armed Services.

However, my scenario, somewhat optimistically assumes that this gentleman has been replaced in a third-term Reinfeldt government with someone of far abler capability, and, due to Sweden's ongoing strong economic progress actually will find the funds to pay for a resurgent Blue-Water navy once again. Anyone can, of course elaborate on how that would happen. I'm no economist, so I better leave that part aside, at least till someone may provide a realistic scheme on how it can be done.

Anyway, I drew a series of blue-water Swedish warships thanks to my discovery of the abilities of MS-Paint. Once I thought I had lost them all due to a computer crash, but a few had been saved in an online folder, so I started to redraw them. However, with the increasing level of standards at SB, a phenomenon to which I have in some small part contributed, I thought it only proper and well to have a thorough go-over with these, and so here's the first installment of what once were my first posts at SB.

Now, chronologically these vessels are really the last, but since I had them worked-over firstly, they thus get posted as the first ones.

I give you H.M.S. Tre Kronor as of 2018:

[ img ]

and her sister; H. M. S. Göta Lejon as of 2020:

[ img ]

Both are armed with 1 - 155 mm BAE/Bofors L/52 DP-gun; PAAMS (S) Sylver-Sea Viper VLS A-70 for Aster 25 (RBS100) medium-distance missiles, Aster 50 (RBS105) long-distance missiles and/or Aster 15 (RBS98) short-distance missiles and Aster 30 (RBS99) medium- and long-distance missiles. They also have 2 x 4 cell VLS Denel Dynamics Umkontho IR (RBS80) amidships and the RBS-15 Mk III in four quad cannisters. The "TK" has one 40mm L/48 CIWS on top of the hangar and two Bofors/OTO-Melara KBA 25 mm abaft the bridge wings. The "GL" has, instead one seven-barrelled 30 mm Goalkeeper 2 SGE-30 on the chart house top and one Raytheon RIM-116B RAM PDMS on the hangar roof; a system which is a hand-me-down from the German Navy, this having, instead begun to fit or retrofit its major vessels with the RAM Block-2 version.

Displacement is 5,350 tons standard; 7,040 ton fully loaded.

Dimensions are slightly increased over the Dutch LCF-frigate type which has mainly served as an inspiration; Thales having developed a substantial part of the electronics for the class. The machinery is substantially the same as the LCFs and so is the overall performance.

Here's the revolutionary Heijkenskjöld-class FFG:s. With a longer but narrower hull than the Tre Kronor-class, they are optimized for maneuvrability and speed; being powered by two sets of waterpump jets. Their armament reflects their escort characteristics: one 76.3 mm OTO-Melara gun forward and either 40mm or 57 mm gun CIWS. Their displacement is 6,800 tons fully loaded so they are only marginally smaller than the Tre Kronor-class. In English nautical literature they are referred to as the 'Explorer'-class or, in Swedish, 'Upptäckarklassen', as each ship has been named after four notable Swedish exploeres from the 17th through the 19th centuries. In the democratic, egalitarian way that Swedes oftenmost conduct their business, two ships received female names while the remaining pair were given male names.

Although built domestically by a consortium led by Kockums in Malmö, they feature several design solutions by the Spanish commercial and naval yard of Navantia, in Ferrol. Electronics are mostly domestic, though the Aster-system is an international affair; Dutch and Danish radar-systems paired with French- and/or Italian-made missiles.

On her trials in 5 fathoms of sea in Eastern Bothnian Sea the HMS Margaretha Heijkenskjöld made 37.83 knots on the straight run. All ships are good for speeds in excess of 32 knots, though economical speed remains at a more modest 18-20 knots. Being equipped with two, instead of one pumpjets, enables the ships to maneuvre much more deftly than if equipped with a conventional propeller-shaft arrangement. The two outer, oversized rudders also helps in giving the ships an extremely small turning circle of less than 250 yards. A sophisticated set of automated gear-couplings also enable the ships to easily cruise at low or economical speed without vibrations from the pumpjet installations.

The completion of these ships, between 2016-22 was a major industrial feat for the Swedish arms industry. However their cost proved prohibitive and only four, instead of eight ships were completed; instead the navy turned to Stülcken in Germany for a much simpler and cheaper alternative.

So, here's the H.M.S. Margaretha Heijkenskjöld as completed in May 2018:

[ img ]

and the follow-up pair represented by H.M.S. Anna Åkerhjelm:

[ img ]

Another class which bore no resemblance to anything afloat at the time, and conceived as an attempt to budget together the need for large, powerful icebreakers with an increasing need to patrol the Bothnian Sea and even the Arctic Sea, since the collapse of the Russian Federal Navy's strength, was the so-called "Vega-class" Arctic destroyers. They were originally intended to be named after Arctic explorers and/or ships, such as the Vega, but, instead they were, at the insistance of the Provincial Governments given Lapplandian city names.
In essence they were modified Jacob Bagges, with a true icebreaker stem, twin bow thrusters, a shrouded shaft arrangement and a concpicious look-out tower, also housing the prominent APAR-dome. All ships were intended for extensive electronic fit, but in practice only the H.M.Ss Umeå and Sundsvall were so fitted. In fact, only the former went to sea with her full complement of armament, and soon she was stripped of much of it to enable the Navy to fit the other vessels out as well. The last two entered service as little more than huge icebreaker-gunboats; their missile hatches amidships being left empty. All four were extensively employed, however, especially after the Riksdags decision in Jan. 2016 to gradually abolish the dedicated icebreaker fleet operated by the Sjöfartsverket (Maritime Agency), but manned by reserve navy personnel.

Although the Swedish Government found it increasingly difficult to man and fund these vessels, the hiring of two of them by Finland and one by Russia enabled the H.M.S. Umeå to soldier on as one of two large Swedish icebreakers (the other was the older Oden!)

So here is the unique H.M.S. Umeå, as of 2017

[ img ]

_________________
My Avatar:Петр Алексеевич Безобразов (Petr Alekseevich Bezobrazov), Вице-адмирал , царская ВМФ России(1845-1906) - I sign my drawings as Ari Saarinen

Last edited by bezobrazov on June 29th, 2011, 7:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Royal Swedish Navy DDG and FFG:s

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