Sweden Gets First New Signals Intelligence Ship in 40 Years

Sweden launched its first signals intelligence ship, HMS Artemis at a ceremony in Karlskrona on April 3 replacing HMS Orion which has served for over 40 years.

HMS Artemis will soon go to sea and do its first sharp intelligence gathering  with its advanced sensors developed by the FRA, the Swedish Defence Radio Institute.

The new ship is better in every way; it is bigger, more comfortable and, above all, have enhanced capabilities.

The Artemis has a large horizontal cylinder, a "radome," on top of the superstructure that contains antennas used in signals intelligence.

HMS Artemis is said to be one of the world’s most modern platforms of its kind and will perform signals intelligence duties in the Baltic Sea, at a time of Sweden’s entry into NATO and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Construction of the Artemis began in 2018. However, there was some delay due to the bankruptcy of the Polish shipyard that was contracted to build the ship. The half-finished ship had to be towed to Sweden and completed in Karlskrona. Then a phase of installations took place, when not least the signals intelligence equipment itself was put in place, according to an FRA press release.