Sweden sees frigate decision early next year as France touts 2030 date

PARIS — Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson expects a decision early next year on the country’s planned purchase of four frigates, with the government awaiting advice from procurement agency FMV and the armed forces after a survey of available options, he said on Monday, following a meeting with his French counterpart Catherine Vautrin.

The ministers discussed the Swedish frigate program, French interest in Saab’s GlobalEye airborne early warning and control aircraft, as well as aid to Ukraine, they said in a press conference in Stockholm following their meeting. Vautrin said France would be able to supply a fully equipped and armed frigate in 2030, the target set by Sweden for first deliveries.

“We re looking what frigates there are that are available, that would also suit our quite ambitious timeline,” Jonson said. He said the FMV completed a market survey, but no decision has been made. “The ambition is to have two frigates ideally by 2030 and another two by 2035.”

The air-defense component of the new frigate will also be important, and a step for Sweden towards integration into NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence program, Jonson said.

Sweden in May 2024 announced a change in plans to buy surface combatants, with the FMV saying the new vessels would be larger than the current Visby-class corvettes, and with the country prepared to consider off-the-shelf designs rather than an entirely Swedish solution.

France in October offered Naval Group’s FDI frigate to Sweden, and is proposing a partnership with the Swedish defense industry, notably Saab, according to Vautrin. The Swedish program is a new chance for Naval Group to sell its frigate with a distinctive inverted bow, after Norway picked the British Type 26 frigate over the smaller French design earlier this year.

The FDI has a strong focus on anti-air capabilities, with a Thales Sea Fire radar designed to support long-range air defense and equipped with 16 to 32 vertical-launch cells that can fire MBDA Aster 15 and 30 missiles. Meanwhile, the primary role of the Type 26 is anti-submarine warfare.

The French Navy took delivery of its first FDI frigate, the Amiral Ronarc’h. in October, the first of five planned vessels. The Hellenic Navy earlier this month signed a contract for a fourth FDI frigate, on top of three vessels currently under construction.

Vautrin said the Amiral Ronarc’h will visit the Swedish seaport of Göteborg at the start of next year.

Naval Group’s Defense and Intervention Frigate has a length of 122 meters and displaces around 4,500 tons, making it smaller than new-generation frigates being built or planned in Spain, the United States, Italy, Germany and the United States.

The ministers also discussed Saab’s GlobalEye, which France is looking at “with a lot of interest” as the country seeks to replace existing equipment, Vautrin said. “GlobalEye is a product that interests us in terms of surveillance, and that’s the reason why France will have announcements to make on the topic.”

France currently operates four Boeing E-3F planes in the AWACS role, and signed a letter of intent in June concerning the GlobalEye.

France seeks to build up its relation with Sweden and be a partner, not just be a client, and “it’s in this spirit that we’re heading towards the acquisition of a program such as GlobalEye,” Vautrin said, with the minister expressing hope that Sweden could similarly be a partner for frigates.

Jonson and Vautrin also discussed aid to Ukraine, and both said letters of intent by Ukraine to acquire Saab’s Gripen and Dassault Aviation’s Rafale are complementary.

“The Ukrainian side has been very clear from the onset that they expect to have a mixed fleet of about 250 aircraft,” Jonson said. “This is not yet a business deal between any of the countries, it’s a letter of intent, but it’s a strong political message on both sides that we want to make this happen.”

Europe’s interest is for Ukraine to have strong air-defense capability, according to Jonson, who said he and his French counterpart touched on financing, with both agreeing the time is right to use Russian immobilized assets to provide support to the embattled country.

Vautrin said Ukraine will need to equip itself to ensure long-term security, including after a ceasefire or peace deal, “and it’s in this spirit that you should see these agreements.”

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——瑞典国防部长帕尔·琼森周一在与法国国防部长凯瑟琳·沃特兰会晤后表示，瑞典政府正在等待采购机构FMV和武装部队在对现有方案进行调查后提出的建议，预计将于明年初就该国计划购买四艘护卫舰一事做出决定。

部长们在会晤后于斯德哥尔摩举行的新闻发布会上表示，双方讨论了瑞典护卫舰项目、法国对萨博公司“全球之眼”（GlobalEye）空中预警与控制飞机的兴趣，以及对乌克兰的援助问题。沃特兰表示，法国有能力在2030年交付一艘装备齐全的武装护卫舰，这是瑞典设定的首批交付目标。

“我们正在寻找符合我们雄心勃勃的时间表的护卫舰，”约翰逊说。他表示，FMV已经完成了一项市场调查，但尚未做出任何决定。“我们的目标是到2030年拥有两艘护卫舰，到2035年再拥有两艘。”

约翰逊表示，新护卫舰的防空部分也很重要，这将是瑞典融入北约一体化防空和导弹防御计划的一步。

2024 年 5 月，瑞典宣布改变购买水面作战舰艇的计划。瑞典联邦军事和船舶管理局 (FMV) 表示，新舰艇将比目前的维斯比级轻型护卫舰更大，并且瑞典准备考虑采用现成的设计，而不是完全由瑞典自主研发的解决方案。

据沃特林透露，法国在10月份向瑞典推介了法国海军集团的FDI护卫舰，并提议与瑞典国防工业，特别是萨博公司建立合作关系。此前，挪威在今年早些时候选择了英国的​​26型护卫舰，而非尺寸较小的法国设计，因此瑞典项目为法国海军集团提供了一个新的机会，可以再次推销其具有独特倒置舰艏设计的护卫舰。

FDI型护卫舰高度重视防空能力，配备泰雷兹“海火”远程防空雷达，并设有16至32个垂直发射单元，可发射MBDA“紫菀”15型和30型导弹。同时，26型护卫舰的主要任务是反潜作战。

法国海军于10月接收了其首艘FDI护卫舰“阿米拉尔·罗纳尔奇”号，这是计划建造的五艘同型舰中的第一艘。希腊海军本月早些时候签署了第四艘FDI护卫舰的建造合同，此外还有三艘同型舰正在建造中。

沃特林表示，罗纳尔奇海军上将将于明年年初访问瑞典海港哥德堡。

法国海军集团的“防御与干预”护卫舰长 122 米，排水量约 4500 吨，比西班牙、美国、意大利、德国和美国正在建造或计划建造的新一代护卫舰要小。

部长们还讨论了萨博公司的GlobalEye系统，法国正“非常关注”该系统，因为法国正在寻求替换现有设备，沃特兰表示。“GlobalEye是一款我们在监控方面很感兴趣的产品，这也是法国将就此发表声明的原因。”

法国目前运营着四架波音 E-3F 预警机，并于 6 月签署了一份关于 GlobalEye 的意向书。

法国寻求加强与瑞典的关系，成为合作伙伴，而不仅仅是客户。沃特林表示：“正是本着这种精神，我们才朝着收购像GlobalEye这样的项目迈进。”他还表示希望瑞典也能成为护卫舰方面的合作伙伴。

约翰逊和沃特林还讨论了对乌克兰的援助，两人都表示，乌克兰购买萨博“鹰狮”战斗机和达索航空“阵风”战斗机的意向书是互补的。

约翰逊说：“乌克兰方面从一开始就非常明确地表示，他们希望组建一支约250架飞机的混合机队。这目前还不是两国之间的商业协议，只是一份意向书，但这代表了双方强烈的政治意愿，即我们希望促成此事。”

据约翰逊称，欧洲的利益在于希望乌克兰拥有强大的防空能力。他还表示，他和法国同行讨论了融资问题，双方一致认为现在是利用俄罗斯闲置资产向这个陷入困境的国家提供支持的合适时机。

沃特林表示，乌克兰需要做好准备，以确保长期安全，包括在停火或和平协议达成之后，“正是本着这种精神来看待这些协议的。”

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。