Visby-class corvette

The Visby class is a Swedish composite-hulled stealth corvette class designed for surface warfare, submarine warfare, mine countermeasures and patrol.

Overview

The Visby class comprises five corvettes operated by the Swedish Navy and built at Karlskrona by Kockums, now Saab Kockums. Saab describes a multipurpose warship combining anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures and patrol duties. Its defining feature is a carbon-fibre composite hull designed to reduce radar, infrared, acoustic and magnetic signatures.

Saab lists a fully equipped displacement of 650 tonnes, a length of 72.7 metres and a complement of 43. The class combines high-speed waterjet propulsion with a gun, anti-ship missiles and submarine-warfare equipment. Its original configuration lacked an air-defence missile system; Sweden subsequently selected MBDA’s Sea Ceptor, using CAMM missiles, for all five ships.

The class remains in Swedish Navy service while undergoing modernisation. Its operational use includes patrol, surveillance and multinational exercises. The Swedish Armed Forces identified Helsingborg’s temporary service under Finnish naval command in autumn 2026 as the first placement of a Swedish warship under direct Finnish leadership. That deployment was a short-term operation, rather than permanent basing.

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