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Visby class corvette
General Characteristics	Swedish Navy Ensign
Displacement:	650 tonnes
Length:	72 m
Beam:	10.4 m
Draft:	2.5 m
Hull material:	Sandwich construction carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP)
Propulsion:	2 KaMeWa Waterjets, powered by: ★ High-speed machinery: 4 Honeywell gas turbines, total rating 16 MW ★ Low-speed machinery: 2 squeegie engines, total rating 2.6 MW
Speed:	35+ knots
Range:
Complement:	43
Sensors:	★ Sea Giraffe ABM 3D surveillance Radar ★ Saab Ceros 200 Fire control radar system ★ Condor CS-3701 Tactical Radar Surveillance System ★ Hull-mounted sonar ★ Towed array sonar system
Armament:	★ Bofors 57 mm/70 SAK Mk3 ★ 8 × RBS15 Mk2 AShM ★ 8 x Umkhonto surface-to-air missile ★ 4 × 400 mm tubes for Type 43/45 torpedoes ★ 4 x MASS Countermeasure launchers ★ mines ★ prepared for the installation of heavy Torpedoes
Command & Control System:	9LV CETRIS (C4I) from SAAB systems

'Visby' is the latest class of Corvette to be adopted by the Swedish Navy, the ship's design heavily emphasizes ''low visibility'' or Stealth technology. The first ship in the class is named after Visby, the main city on the island of Gotland. The ships are built by Kockums in Karlskrona and have undergone extensive testing. The class has received widespread international attention because of its status as a Stealth ship and its network-centric capabilities.
It is made from Carbon fiber (see also the Oceanic-Creations spin-off), and its angular design reduces its radar signature (or radar cross section). Its 57 mm cannon barrel can also be folded into the turret to further reduce its cross section.

Contents

History

Launch Dates

Development Phase

Subcontractors

See also

External links

History

Much of the design was based on the experiences learned from the experimental ship HMS Smyge. 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. Other cutbacks have been the cancellation of the 127mm ALECTO ASW rocket system and the use of mkI RBS15 missiles upgraded to mkII configuration rather than the latest mk3.
A helicopter hangar was originally planned but was considered to be too cramped and was deleted. However, the new navy helicopters Hkp15B (Agusta A109) had been shortened to fit in the projected hangar.

Launch Dates

★ HMS Visby K31 - 8 June 2000

★ HMS Helsingborg K32 - 27 June 2003

★ HMS Härnösand K33 - 16 December 2004

★ HMS Nyköping K34 - 18 August 2005

★ HMS Karlstad K35 - 23 August 2006

★ HMS Uddevalla (K36) - Cancelled

Development Phase

Anti-ship missiles have yet to be fired from the vessel and the SAM system has been selected but not installed. None of the ships can be considered fully operational yet due to the lack of such critical systems.

Subcontractors

A Visby class corvette derivative competed in the American Focused Mission Vessel Study, led by Northrop Grumman in partnership with Kockums AB and Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG (HDW). The program was a precursor to the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program. It competed with several other concepts including Norway's Skjold class.

See also

★ Sea Shadow (IX-529)

★ USS Independence (LCS-2)

★ Sea Fighter

★ ''La Fayette'' class frigate

★ Type 45 destroyer

★ RV Triton

★ USS Freedom (LCS-1)

★ ''Braunschweig'' class corvette

★ ''F125'' class frigate

★ ''Sachsen'' class frigate

★ ''Skjold'' class

★ ''Zeven Provinciën'' class frigate

External links

★ Kockums - Official homepage

★ BBC article

★ Swedish navy page on the Visby trials (Swedish)