Ship cut to the Baltic

Ship-spirit

A26 is simply a fresh project. No country in the planet uses specified units. 2 ordered by the Swedes. Initially they were to enter the service from 2022 to 2024, but yet the transportation deadline was postponed to the beginning of the next decade. The Swedish Navy is looking forward to this moment. The more so, as the constructors provide, the A26 will be exceptional units.

Ships were designed specifically to operate in comparatively shallow waters of the Baltic, but of course they can besides operate outside it. They are built in GHOST technology (Genuine Holistic Stealth). Thanks to additional interior deafening, as well as covering the hull with sound absorbing coating and peculiar A26 paint, they will become hard to track by the hydroacoustic stations of the ZOP (Frequency of Submarine Ships) – frigate or Corvette.

Blekinges are 66 metres long, their buoyancy has been calculated to 1925 tons, and their autonomy, that is, the ability to operate at sea without having to call the port – for 45 days. Each crew will have about 30 sailors. A26 will usage conventional diesel-electric drive. However, they will besides receive air-independent AIP with Stirling engines that do not request access to atmospheric air. In this way, ships will be able to operate underwater longer, without having to go to alleged snoring.

Nor will we find conventional periscopes in Swedish units. Instead, the crews will usage optoelectronic warheads to let a wider and faster view of the situation around the ship. Each of the A26 will be equipped with 4 533 mm torpedo tubes and the ability to place sea mines. However, if necessary, by adding an additional module, this resource can be increased to six launchers. The modular plan of the ships besides enables them to be equipped with a maneuvering rocket launcher. The A26 hull itself was constructed so that divers would descend from the deck through a peculiar sluice if essential – even soldiers of peculiar troops. This way to the sea will besides be possible to release submarines. The ships will yet be equipped with a series of sonars, including a lateral to find the course and distance to the mark or against the mine.

- Systems utilized on A26 are as complex as those found on space stations. Only that space stations do not function in an environment so full of threats – emphasized Per-Ola Hedin, chief engineer of the A26 task at Saab Kockums shipyard in spring.

Hidden means effective

Seamen have been waiting for nearly 3 decades to get modern submarines. specified a request was signaled at the turn of the century. Then, too, they entered the service from the Norwegian Navy of Kobben. The thought was to be a bridge solution, but yet remained in line for respective consecutive years. The flag on the last 2 was not abandoned until 2021. Since then, the Polish submarine has consisted of only 1 ship – ORP “Orzeł”, whose pedigree reaches the end of the 1980s. Meanwhile, specialists have been saying for years: submarines are essential in Poland. Why?

“Russian activity in the Baltic is increasing. We have GPS interference, hard to explain incidents around critical infrastructure, a shadow fleet that carries an embargo-covered oil. Under specified conditions, good diagnosis is crucial – for the armed forces as well as for the state – argued in a fresh interview for Polish-Army.pl kmdr Łukasz Szmigiel, Commander of the Submarine Squadron in the 3rd Fleet of Ships. As he added, in many ways the submarine has more possibilities than the water units, among others, is not so dependent on weather and can carry out tasks with strong wind and advanced wave. - And he's able to approach his opponent truly close. Operate in the immediate vicinity of land, suspicious ships, ships and stay unnoticed," the officer said.

Submarine ships are able to effectively cover shipping routes. This is crucial not only in the face of expanding hybrid threats, but besides in the event of an open war. Baltic supply lines even, and possibly especially, will most likely be intensively utilized in specified a situation. Especially due to the fact that it is through the Baltic that leads the shortest way to Scandinavia, Latvia or Estonia.

Ships won't stay in ports. And the price will especially include those individuals who have the anticipation of secretive action – he emphasized during last year's discussion with the monthly “Polska Armorna”, kmdr Leszek Grandpa from the Centre for Maritime Operations - the Marine Component Command. Especially since the Baltic itself, though shallow, favors submarines. It's a substance of circumstantial hydrology. The layers of water with variable temperature and salinity are arranged so that the sound below the surface is distributed irregularly. And that makes the unit that operates underwater hard to track.