Posted on 01/15/2010 9:16:55 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
After a decade of development, testing and extended sea trials, Sweden has finally put two of its Visby class "stealth" corvettes (HMS Helsingborg and HMS Härnösand) into service. This finally happened on December 16th. With a hull made of carbon fiber material, and topside surfaces shaped to deflect radar, the Visby is hard to spot electronically. Travelling at less than 22 kilometers an hour (13 in rough seas), the Visby is practically invisible to radar.
The 650 ton ships are armed with a 57mm gun, plus eight RBS-15 anti-ship missiles (max range of 70 kilometers), as well as anti-submarine torpedoes, mines or depth charges. The crew is small (43)., but the ship can move fast (about 70 kilometers an hour) in all kinds of weather. The Visby had radar, sonar and thermal imaging equipment. The ship is 240 feet long, 34 feet wide and had a draught of only eight feet.
The Visby ships can also carry a helicopter, and is equipped with hull mounted and towed array sonars for hunting Russian subs off the Swedish coast. Propulsion is via waterjets, which makes the ships harder to detect by submarines. Five Visby class ships have been built, and all will be in service within three years. Many foreign navies have shown a lot of interest in the Visby technology.
(Excerpt) Read more at strategypage.com ...
what kinda tires?
Oh wait..its a ship..my bad
So, I am confused. It says they move at 22 kph, then it says 70 kph.
Which is it?
Top speed for the vessel is most likely in the 30 knot range, by traveling at like 5 knots the ship is invisible to radar.
A Corvette that’s invisible to radar?!!
Oh wait, it’s a ship;)
Maybe they mean at under 22 kph it is practically invisible to radar, but it can move a lot faster if invisibility does not matter?
It’s both, the faster it goes the easier it becomes to
pick up on radar, at low speed almost invisible.
Wish there were pics.
They must work, because nobody seems to have been able to get A pic of one.
There is a pic here...
Definitely looks like something from a sci-fi movie...:^)
22 is the max speed at which the ship can maintain radar invisibility, 70 is the top speed overall.
Typical unclear and confusing phrasing found all over the written media nowadays...
A fairly impressive ship. Image here.
Sure, but it’s stopped.The one I took is moving.
I stand corrected.
Has a nice sized basketball court on the poop deck too.
Where’s the pool?
Maybe they can use it on the Muslims controlling Malmo (3rd largest city in Sweden).
That cone shaped mast at the top is the 3D imaging radar, the forward dome is the gun and the missiles are stored in the housing at the front of the bridge. This ship is sexy for people who like ships.
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