The Visby-class corvettes are the backbone of the Swedish Navy.
Now we are at the doorstep of a new world, and Russia does not hesitate to threaten also
the Baltic and Scandinavian countries.
Thus, the importance of these surface combatants has increased beyond compare with the past.
As the Weapon Detective, we are investigating the Visby-class corvettes, one of the most
deterrent assets of Sweden against Russia.
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The Visby-class corvette is one of the brilliantly innovative weapon systems of Sweden.
But we should not ignore that the end of the First Cold War prevented it from being as
marvellous as initially planned.
These vessels are one of the fundamental assets of Non-NATO countries to discourage the expansionist
ambition of Moscow in the region.
After all, the threat of the Soviet Baltic Fleet paved the way for the Visby-class' development.
Sweden has a large territory, highly strategic position and small population.
So, it has constantly worked on innovative weapon systems to counterbalance numerical
inferiority.
We can trace the roots of the emergence of the Visby-class to the late 1960s when Stockholm
decided to replace its major surface combatants with small ships.
In the scope of this decision, the Swedish Navy decommissioned its last frigates and
destroyers in 1982.
But in 1981, the Soviet Whiskey-class submarine, S-363, unofficially named as U 137 by the
Swedish, had run aground outside Karlskrona.
After this incident, Stockholm realized that it had to increase its anti-submarine warfare,
shortly ASW, capability.
So, Sweden commissioned the Stockholm-class and Göteborg-class corvettes later.
In 1987, the Swedish Navy decided to work on a new innovative design cooperating with
stealth technology.
The fruit of the programme, HMS Smyge, was launched in 1991.
The trials of this experimental ship provided valuable feedback to the development of the
Visby-class.
But by the collapse of the USSR, Sweden relieved the naval threat of the Baltic Fleet.
So, the Visby programme experienced many setbacks.
Initially, Sweden had planned to acquire 12 corvettes to replace the Norrköping-class
missile boats, but the government reduced the number to six with an option for another
four.
Stockholm never activated the option.
Later, Sweden would cancel the sixth vessel, HMS Uddevalla.
The later acquisition plan had contained the building of four ASW and one anti-surface
warfare corvettes.
However, Sweden changed the configuration to a single multi-mission one due to budget
cutbacks.
Also, it cancelled the helicopter hangar in the initial plan to save money.
The first corvette of the class, HMS Visby, was laid down on February 17, 1995, launched
June 8, 2000, and commissioned September 16, 2002.
But she did not become fully operational until 2012.
Sweden gave up installing the Alecto ASW rocket launchers and the Umkhomonto air defence missiles
on the ships to reduce costs in 2007 and 2008, respectively.
When the second and third corvettes, HMS Helsingborg and HMS Härnösand, were commissioned in
2009, they had no weapon systems except the 57mm gun.
HMS Visby was in the same condition.
Sweden called them Version 4, which were still a kind of training ships for the crews and
test platforms for further improvements.
Version 5 would have mine hunting systems, anti-surface ship missiles, and additional
stealth adaptation.
Also, Sweden was planning to complete the helicopter landing certification process.
HMS Visby became the first to be upgraded to Version 5 in 2012.
Later, HMS Helsingborg and HMS Härnösand followed her.
The fourth and fifth corvettes, HMS Nyköping and HMS Karlstad, were commissioned in 2015
as Version 5.
The corvette has a particular angular tumblehome stealth design.
The hull of the Visby-class has a sandwich design consisting of a PVC core with carbon
fibre and vinyl laminate.
The use of composite materials, which are highly corrosion-resistant, reduce radar and
infrared signatures.
Also, to further lower the infrared signature, exhaust gases are discharged in the aft part
of the hull above the very surface of the water.
The materials used on the ship are non-magnetic, which provide a significant advantage against
magnetic sea mines.
The camouflage of the Visby-class reduces its visibility.
Thanks to composites, the displacement of the corvette is half of a similar size conventional
surface combatant.
The low weight and the deep V design of the hull, which lower the hydrodynamic field,
provide a higher top speed and better manoeuvrability on the calm and highly wavy waters.
The Visby-class has a controlled trim plate at the aft end, which provides stability at
high speeds and reduces fuel consumption by 4-6 per cent.
The Visby-class has waterjets, which reduce the acoustic and magnetic signature, increase
manoeuvrability, and maximize operational capability in shallow waters.
The complement of the Visby-class is 43-person.
The corvette has a length of 72 metres, a beam of 10.4 metres, and a draught of 2.4
metres.
Its fully loaded displacement is 650 tons.
The propulsion system consists of four 5,360 horsepower Vericor TF50A gas turbines and
two 1,740 horsepower MTU 16V2000N90 diesel engines in CODOG configuration, and two KaMeWa
125 SII water jets.
Its maximum speed is 35 knots.
The range is 4,630 kilometres, in other words, 2,500 nautical miles, at an economical speed
of 15 knots.
The Visby-class has eight RBS 15 anti-ship missiles, one 57mm SAK Mk3 gun, and four 400mm
torpedo tubes.
It also has the capability of launching depth charges and laying sea mines.
The corvette is equipped with the Pilot navigation/surface search, Sea Giraffe ABM 3D air/surface search,
and CEROS 2000 Mk 3 fire control radars.
It has the GDC hull-mounted, Hydroscience Technologies towed array and GDC variable
depth sonars.
The sonars of the corvette can detect both submarines and sea mines.
The Visby-class also carries an improved version of the Double Eagle Mk III remotely operated
vehicles for mine hunting.
These corvettes have the Multi Ammunition Softkill System, shortly MASS, for self-defence
systems.
It can protect the vessel from anti-ship missile attacks by launching decoys that operate in
all relevant wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as ultraviolet, electro-optical,
laser, infrared and radar.
The RBS 15 Mk II's advanced guidance system can find and lock on the target during even
the 8 g of evasive manoeuvres.
It has a low radar cross-section and infrared signature.
The missile, which has a 200-kilogram high-explosive blast and pre-fragmented warhead, can reach
a range of 150 kilometres.
In January 2021, Saab and the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration signed two agreements
for a mid-life upgrade for the Visby-class corvettes.
According to this programme, the Mk III and Mk IV Gungnir variants will replace the RBS
15 Mk II soon.
The Mk III variant with land-attack capability, which has the 4.4 kiloNewton Microturbo TRI
60-5 turbojet engine, can each a range of 200 kilometres.
The RBS 15 Mk. IV Gungnir, currently under development, has a range of 300 kilometres.
It also has the land-attack capability.
The 57mm SAK Mk3 has a rate of fire of 220 rounds per minute and a maximum effective
range of 17,000 metres.
The turret has a stealthy design.
The barrel is lowered and hidden into the hull to reduce the radar signature when not
in use.
The ship carries 240 pieces of 57mm ammunition, 120 of which are ready to fire.
The SAK Mk3 can fire the FUZE 3P programmable rounds.
When the projectile reaches the pre-programmed area, it detonates itself and creates a metal
wall consisting of about 2,400 pieces of 3 millimetre-thick tungsten balls.
The Visby-class carries four 400mm torpedo tubes.
Currently, they launch the Tp 45s homing torpedo with a speed of 35 knots and a range of nearly
20 kilometres.
Soon, the corvette will have the Tp 47s, which have a pump jet propulsion system, a range
of over 20 kilometres and a speed of 40 knots.
The maximum effective depth of this fully digital passive/active sonar homing torpedo
is 300 metres.
With the mid-life modernization programme, the Visby-class vessels will gain the capability
of launching air defence missiles.
The Swedish Navy deploys the A109's naval variant, whose Swedish designation is HKP-15B,
on the Visby-class.
The corvette has no hangar, but it has refuelling capability for helicopters.
The Visby-class surface combatants of the Swedish Navy have participated in many multi-national
naval exercises, such as Cold Response, Joint Warrior, Swefinex, and Trident Jucture.
The Visby-class also participated in the submarine hunt in the Swedish territorial waters in
2014, which has paved the way for increasing the Swedish defence budget.
You can find further information and analysis for this incident in our Göteborg/Gävle-class
corvette video.
The current Russo-Ukrainian War has proved once again that increasing the defence budget
is a wise decision.
According to many Western countries, it was unlikely that Russia would start a big war
for its expansionist ambition.
Still, the problem is not limited to Ukraine.
Putin also dreams of having the Baltic region.
So, Finland and Sweden have expressed their intentions to join NATO.
And Putin did not hesitate to threaten these countries.
If Russia attempts to attack these countries, the European Union and NATO will most probably
accept a war this time.
But without the need for war, can Sweden alone deter Russian aggression?
That's the question.
Since the First Cold War ended, the surface fleet of the Swedish Navy had shrunk from
34 warships to only nine, including two Stockholm-class corvettes.
But, these vessels have been downgraded to patrol boats without the anti-ship missiles.
Also, in 2015, Sweden retired the C.212 maritime patrol/ASW aircraft, locally designated SH
89, without replacement.
Due to the detente era after the collapse of the USSR, the Swedish Navy did not equip
the Visby-class with air defence missiles.
In case of war, the Swedish Air Force will provide air cover for the navy.
But, the Visby-class has only Link 11 capability, which provides only a limited network-centric
warfare capability.
In 1987, the Swedish Air Force had 501 combat-capable aircraft, while after 45 years, it has only
71 fighters.
At first glance, the situation for Sweden is not numerically good.
But, three prime factors say otherwise.
First, the Visby-class has superior combat and stealth capabilities than the ships of
the 1980s' fleet.
The Russo-Ukrainian War has shown us the C4ISR capacity of the Russian Armed Forces is inadequate.
Russia has not managed to control the Ukrainian airspace until now.
So, it seems that Russian reconnaissance and surveillance systems won't also stand a chance
to detect and monitor the stealthy Visby-class corvettes.
The second fact is that the Ukrainians occupied and wore out the Russian Army more than expected.
So, Sweden has gained time to modernize the Visby-class with air defence missiles and
more effective tactical data links, such as Link 16 or Link 22.
The third fact is that the Russian Baltic Fleet is not mighty as the Soviet Baltic Fleet,
which had 33 submarines, two cruisers, 14 destroyers, 14 frigates, 17 corvettes, some
100 other minor surface combatants, and 135 combat aircraft.
Today, the Russian Baltic Fleet has only one submarine, one destroyer, two frigates, 25
corvettes, and about 30 to 40 combat aircraft.
The 71 Gripens with the Meteor missiles will be more effective than hundreds of Drakens
and Viggens in a possible war.
The primary mission of the Swedish Navy is to keep away the Russian Navy from the nearby
waters and prevent its attacks, rather than controlling the Baltics.
So, the Visby-class has enough capability to deter a possible attack of the Russian
Baltic Fleet.
Soon, these corvettes will have better abilities.
It seems the innovative approach of Sweden will thoroughly serve the country's defence
as it served in the First Cold War.
Thanks for watching our video.
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