The Swedish Navy’s new signals intelligence ship HMS Artemis has begun sea trials from Saab’s Karlskrona yard ahead of its delivery to the armed forces.
HMS Artemis was launched in April 2019, after the Swedish defense ministry awarded Saab the contract to design and build the ship in 2016.
According to a photo of the ship on sea trials shared by Saab, it has been given the pennant number A202.
The hull was built by the Nauta Shiprepair Yard in Poland before being transferred to Sweden for the installation of special SIGINT systems.
The ship had initially been expected to be commissioned in 2020, but the delivery has ben delayed, which forced the Swedish defense ministry to extend the service life of HMS Orion, Sweden’s current spy ship.
HMS Orion has been in service since the 1980s, providing the country with intelligence on events in the Baltic Sea.
At 74 meters long, HMS Artemis is more than 10 meters long than its predecessor and displaces 2,200 tons
Sweden is not alone in having signals intelligence vessels in and around the Baltic Sea. For example, Russia, Germany and Poland have signals intelligence vessels that monitor exercises and movements in the region.
