Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab selects London-based aerospace, defense and nuclear engineering services company Babcock to aid in the development of the Luleå-class Surface Combatant program for Sweden’s Defence Materiel Administration.
This collaboration follows a strategic agreement signed in Sept. 2023 to design four new ships for the Swedish Navy.
Saab will handle the basic design of the vessels, while Babcock will manage the engineering phase, focusing on structural design and auxiliary systems of the Luleå-class ships.
Saab’s senior vice president, Mats Wickell, emphasized the significance of the partnership between Swedish and British shipbuilders, anticipating strong cooperation to enhance Sweden’s naval capabilities.
“This is an important collaboration between Swedish and British shipbuilders, and I am looking forward to a close teamwork to strengthen the Swedish capabilities at sea,” he said.
The project will be carried out at Saab’s shipyard in Karlskrona, Sweden, and Babcock’s facility in Rosyth, Scotland.
Introduced in 2023, the Luleå-class ships are intended to be larger than the current Visby- and Gavle-class corvettes, measuring approximately 330 feet (100 meters) in length. The first two ships are projected to be commissioned by 2030, with the remaining two by 2035.