Hakan Buske, Saab president and chief executive officer is bullish about the export prospects for the company’s ‘A26’ class of conventional hunter-killer submarines which are currently under construction for the Marinen (Royal Swedish Navy).
Speaking during a presentation of the company’s activities at the Sheraton Stockholm hotel on 8th May, Mr. Buske stated that the overall ‘A26’ class programme remains on schedule, with plans to deliver the first example of the two-boat class in the 2022 to 2023 timeframe, “which is a very short period,” Mr. Buske stated. Open source reports state that the overall cost of the programme is expected to be $972 million.
Discussing the export prospects for the ‘A26’ class, Mr. Buske forecasted that there are around 50 submarines worldwide which will need to be “swapped” for new boats over the next decade, in addition to navies which will plan to acquire a submarine capability for the first time. Highlighting particular prospects, Mr. Buske observed that Poland and the Netherlands represented potential prospects for the ‘A26’ class design, with the possibility of this boat replacing the ‘Kilo’ and ‘Kobben’ classes operated by the former, and the four boats of the ‘Walrus’ class for the Koninklijke Marine (Royal Netherlands Navy).
