VESSEL REVIEW | Artemis – Swedish Royal Navy places new intelligence ship into service

The Swedish Royal Navy has taken delivery of a new signals intelligence and information-gathering vessel built by Swedish defence manufacturer Saab.

The future HSwMS Artemis, named after the goddess of hunting in Greek mythology, will replace the intelligence ship HSwMS Orion, which has been in operation since 1984 and is nearing the end of its service life. Plans for replacing Orion were initially considered by the Swedish government in 2010 and the contract for the construction and delivery of its replacement was awarded in 2017.

The newer vessel will operate under the authority of Sweden’s National Defence Radio Establishment (Forsvarets Radioanstalt, FRA), the main signals intelligence agency of the country’s Ministry of Defence. Its duties will also include surveillance while its area of operations will encompass the Baltic Sea.

Artemis has a steel hull, a length of 74.6 metres, a beam of 14 metres, a draught of 3.8 metres, a displacement of approximately 2,200 tonnes, and 35 cabins housing a total of 40 berths for the crew. Four 990kW diesel generators propel the vessel to a speed of 14.4 knots.

Saab said the newer vessel also has better manoeuvrability compared to Orion and will provide the armed forces and FRA personnel an improved onboard living environment. Although many technical details remain classified, the manufacturer remarked that the electromagnetic compatibility capabilities are also significantly improved, reducing the number of disrupting signals generated by the vessel.

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