The navy’s new pick-up boats strengthen the ability to hunt submarines in close quarters.
The spanbåt is a relatively new type of vessel in the Swedish navy, although the idea itself is not new. Previously, there were four hydrophone buoy vessels of the Ejder class, which were decommissioned at the beginning of the 2000s. In order to regain the ability to use passive sonar buoys, a decision was made in 2015 to rebuild and modify six surveillance boats into patrol boats. The new trawlers belong to the Järv class and are slightly larger than their predecessors.
– We are eight people in the crew, four officers and four sailors. One difference to the guard boats is that we have a cook on board, says Ebba Serner, first officer on board the patrol boat HMS Dristig.
– It makes it easier and has proven to be an advantage when we lie outside for a long time and listen, she says.
SPYING IN THE HIDDEN
The strength of spy boats is to spy hidden, to lie quietly and with the help of their sonar buoys to listen where the risk of intrusion by submarines and other underwater activities is judged to be high. The system works best in relatively shallow waters in our archipelagos and coastal areas.
– We place our sonar buoys in narrow fairways, straits, passages and other places we deem interesting. If we need to use weapons, we have sufficient speed resources and sinking bombs on board, says Johan Bensköld, ship commander at HMS Dristig.
The spy boats mainly focus on submarine hunting, where they use their sensors in the passive sonar buoy system 911. They also carry out optical reconnaissance on the surface, including with the help of darkness aids. In order to gain as much breadth as possible when scouting within an area, the scout boats often also work together with minesweepers and patrol boats.
THE ABILITY IS GROWING
In order to increase our ability to hunt for submarines in the interior, work is now underway to get all the patrol boats operational. Weapon systems, sensors as well as methods and routines are refined and developed. Geographically, the sweepers are evenly distributed among the minesweeping divisions in Karlskrona and Berga.
– A big advantage of the skimmer boats and the sonar buoy system is that they are cost-effective, both in terms of combat, personnel and money. We have the opportunity to lie outside for a long time, listen passively and in this way with small resources have control over a geographical area, says ship commander Johan.
– The fact that the system is now growing and we will soon be able to man all the fishing boats is a big plus. It also means that we have regained our ability to effectively scout in deep waters and in shallow water. A valuable competence that Sweden can contribute as an ally in NATO, concludes Johan.