Mid-life upgrade completed on Swedish submarine Halland

Swedish shipbuilder Saab has completed the mid-life upgrade (MLU) of the Swedish Royal Navy Gotland-class submarine HSwMS Halland at its facilities in Karlskrona.

Halland is the third and final diesel-electric submarine in the 1990s-built Gotland-class to undergo the upgrade, which includes new technologies and systems of the same type that will be used in the upcoming Blekinge-class submarines.

The MLU means that Halland will be able to carry out maritime missions for many years with new capabilities alongside her sister submarines HSwMS Gotland and HSwMS Uppland, which have previously undergone similar mid-life modifications.

During the modification, more than twenty of the central systems on Halland were replaced, including sensors and command systems. These systems are the same as those that will be used in the Blekinge-class submarines.

Among the new systems is an optronic mast that will allow the crew to analyse the submarine's surroundings with significantly greater clarity and accuracy compared to a traditional periscope.