French Naval Group drew the longest straw when Sweden this week announced its first choice in one of the largest defense purchases since Gripen.
Four 122-meter-long ships are to be delivered starting in 2030. That means the navy faces an urgent period of preparation.
With a crew of up to 125 people per ship, at least 500 sailors are needed. In addition, the existing five Visby corvettes, Sweden's current largest combat ships, will be retained.
"The Visby corvettes have a crew of 43 people. I know it is already a challenge to staff that system today," says Linus Fast, researcher at the Swedish Defence Research Institute (FOI).
It also requires new skills, including in relation to the new air defense systems. But Jimmie Adamsson says that many younger colleagues are also attracted by the upcoming frigates.
"The Visby corvettes were delivered in the early 2000s, they are almost 20 years old. So new, exciting tasks and workplaces are needed."
Attractive goals
Each frigate can take on board a helicopter, which can hunt submarines, supplement the ship's sensors and evacuate casualties.
The Navy Chief has said that, in that case, they would need to be purchased, but nothing is clear yet.
Presumably, ships will also be equipped with their own drones in the future, perhaps helicopter-like varieties, as well as surface and underwater variants.
The frigates would also be attractive targets for an enemy. Russia has sent close to a thousand drones against Ukraine on some days, so the ships must be prepared to face at least hundreds attacking in swarms.
It would be too expensive to fight off drones with the frigates' anti-aircraft missiles, which should instead be used against aircraft or missiles.
Must be repairable
Drones must get close to the ship before they can be shot down, including by using Trackfire, which can be equipped with machine guns or automatic cannons, for example.
"It is a gun-barrel anti-aircraft gun that can fire a lot of bullets into the air in a short time," he says.
There must also be the possibility of limiting and repairing damage on board.
"The most likely scenario is that an individual drone will get through the protection systems. Then we will get local damage that knocks out the technical systems nearby. Then it is a matter of having the conditions to regain lost capability."
The government has instructed FMV to begin negotiations with France to purchase four frigates.
The manufacturer is the French Naval Group and the type is FDI (Frégate de Défense et d'Intervention). The price is estimated at 10 billion per ship at minimum, with deliveries starting in 2030.
The frigates can carry helicopters on board, and are equipped with advanced air defense to protect a large area.
The ships will be called the Luleå class in Sweden and the names will be HMS Luleå, HMS Norrköping, HMS Halmstad and HMS Trelleborg.
