Visby class corvette

The "Visby" is the latest class of corvette to be adopted by the Swedish Navy after the Göteborg and the Stockholm class corvettes. 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 designed by Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) and built by Kockums AB 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.

The hull is constructed with a sandwich design consisting of a PVC core with a carbon fibre and vinyl laminate [: [http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/visby/] ] . (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.

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.

A helicopter hangar was originally planned but was considered to be too cramped and was removed. However, the new navy helicopters Hkp15B (Agusta A109) have been shortened to fit in the projected hangar.

As of yet the only weapon system that has been integrated and tested on the Visby is the gun. Torpedo integration and tests are expected to be carried out during 2008.

Units

All systems to the ship HMS Udevalla were bought in but later the ship was cancelled so now there are plans to build a full Visby class simulator.PTK Visby is the designation of the formation doing system tests and readying the ships for active service within the Swedish Navy, 2008 two ships are part of the formation,
HMS "Helsingborg" and HMS "Nyköping". The formation is under the 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla but takes its orders from Swedish Defence Materiel Administration. The System tests are taking a long time partly because the government is allocating too little in the way of funds, and partly because it's a cutting edge platform of which not very much is known.

Gallery

ee also

*Swedish Navy
*Corvette

imilar ships

*Houbei class missile boat
*Skjold class patrol boat

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3724219.stm BBC article]
* [http://www.fmv.se/default.aspx?id=121 FMV] - Official homepage
* [http://www.kockums.se/ Kockums] - Official homepage
* [http://www.marinen.mil.se/visby/index.php?lang=sve&c=press Swedish navy page on the Visby trials] sv