HSwMS Orion (A201)

For other ships with the same name, see HSwMS Orion.

HSwMS Orion (A201) is a signals intelligence gathering vessel of the Swedish Navy.^[1]

HSwMS Orion
History
Sweden
Name	Orion
Builder	Kockums
Launched	June 1984
Homeport	Karlskrona
Identification	Pennant number: A201 MMSI number: 265000000
Status	In active service
General characteristics
Type	Signals intelligence gathering vessel
Displacement	1,400 tons
Length	61.2 m (200 ft 9 in)
Beam	11.7 m (38 ft 5 in)
Draught	3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Propulsion	2 x Hedemora diesels
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	26

HSwMS Orion was launched in 1984. She was built with extensive support from the United States National Security Agency.^[2] In November 1985, HSwMS Orion was rammed by a Soviet minesweeper after she got too close to a Soviet naval exercise.^[3] In 1998 Orion received a false bomb threat, which was widely covered in the Swedish newspapers. The ship is operated by Swedish Navy officers and sailors, as well as personnel from the National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA). HSwMS Orion belongs to the 1st Submarine Division. Orion shares a hull design with the Fiskeriverkets vessel Argos, an official fishing control vessel.

Replacement

On 22 April 2010, the government of Sweden approved the acquisition of a new ship to replace HSwMS Orion since it no longer meets current sea safety rules.^[4][5]

On 17 April 2017, a new intelligence ship was ordered, HSwMS Artemis, from the Saab Group. The new ship is to be commissioned by 2020 and has a displacement of 2,200 tons.^[6] Construction started on 1 March 2018 at the Polish shipyard Nauta that was selected by Sweden to build the new ship.^[7]

References

1. "Försvarets radioanstalt (National Defence Radio Establishment) website". Archived from the original on June 11, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
2. Secrets of Signals, Intelligence during the Cold War and beyond, p. 235; Matthew M. Aid, Cees Wiebes, Published 2001 by Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-7146-8182-2
3. Secrets of Signals, Intelligence during the Cold War and beyond, p. 235; Matthew M. Aid, Cees Wiebes, Published 2001 by Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-7146-8182-2
4. "Regeringskansliet (Government Offices of Sweden) website". Archived from the original on 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2010-09-29. (In Swedish)
5. Tomkins, Richard (April 11, 2017). "Sweden taps Saab for signal intelligence ship". UPI. Retrieved April 14, 2017. A SIGINT-vessel is mainly used to intercept radio transmitted signals. The Swedish Navy currently uses HMS Orion for this purpose. HMS Orion was launched by Kockums into service in 1984.
6. "FMV - FMV beställer signalspaningsfartyg av Saab AB". www.fmv.se. Archived from the original on 2017-04-11.
7. "Swedish Navy SIGINT ship construction starts in Poland". 2 March 2018.