HSwMS Gotland, the first of two Royal Swedish Navy Gotland-class submarines, was re-delivered to the service on May 14, after completing an extensive mid-life overhaul.
The submarine emerged from the refit two meters longer in 2018, after spending some three years at Saab’s Karlskrona shipyard. The submarine started an extensive sea trials program in 2019 and officially joined the navy last week.
The overhaul process lasted so long because Saab, and the Swedish defense ministry, wanted to incorporate over 20 new systems that will be shared with the next generation of Swedish submarines, the A26. This was done in order to contribute to the de-risking efforts for the A26 program.
During the overhaul, Saab cut HSwMS Gotland in half to add an additional 2 meter hull section to accommodate the third generation of the Stirling air-independent propulsion engine and a diver lock-out chamber in addition to combat management and ship management systems upgrades.
The second submarine in the class, HSwMS Uppland, was re-launched in June 2019, while the overhaul process is well underway on the third and final submarine in the class, the HSwMS Halland.
Once they complete their overhauls, the three Gotland-class submarines will be able to remain in service until late 2020s.
