Altair-class training ship

	HSwMS Altair
Class overview
Name	Altair
Builders	Swede Ship Marine
Operators	Swedish Navy
Cost	SEK 26 million (2008)
In commission	2008–present
Planned	6
Completed	5
Cancelled	1
Active	5
General characteristics
Type	Training ship
Displacement	83.6 long tons (85 t)
Length	26.0 m (85 ft 4 in)
Beam	6.0 m (19 ft 8 in)
Draft	1.4 m (4 ft 7 in)
Propulsion	2 × MTU 12V2000M90, total rating 3.0 MW
Speed	25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Complement	10 men

The Altair class is a series of training ships in use by the Swedish Navy within the Swedish Naval Warfare Centre.^[2] It is the newest and only class of training ships in service with the Swedish Navy that isn't schooners.

History

After the ageing fleet of minesweepers from the 1940s, then used as training ships, could no longer reach safety requirements to have an operating crew onboard, the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration began a search for an already existing class to commission, but to no avail due to the strict requirements given. Therefore a new project was initiated in 2004 to design a new vessel that would fill all requirements that other boats couldn't. This decision would prove itself to be cheaper and overall better.^[3]

Although original plans was to acquire 6 ships of the class, the tight budget given only allowed for 5 to be built.^[3]^[4]

Etymology

As a collective decision by Gen. Håkan Syrén, RAdm. Anders Grenstad and RAdm. Leif Nylander, all ships were to be named after stars in the asterism Pleiades.^[4]

Design

With a hull made out of aluminum and a length of roughly 26 meters as well as a beam of 6 meters, each ship has an expected service life of 25 years. Although the ships aren't built for combat duties they still maintain the ability to be modified into a buoy boat for submarine hunting if the need arises. The ships may also be fitted with M2 Brownings (Designation "Kulspruta 88") although it isn't standard issue.^[3]

Units

Pennant number	Ship name	Delivered	Status
A501	Altair	12 May 2008	Active
A502	Antares	22 September 2008	Active
A503	Arcturus	5 December 2008	Active
A504	Argo	13 February 2009	Active
A505	Astrea	7 May 2009	Active

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "26 M Naval training vessel" (PDF). swedeship.se. Swede Ship Marine. 2015-11-24. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
^ "Skolfartyg Altair". www.forsvarsmakten.se (in Swedish). Försvarsmakten. 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
^ ^a ^b ^c Petersson, Ulf (2008). "Egenutvecklade skolfartyg bästa lösningen" (PDF). Protec (in Swedish) (3). FMV: 10–11. 0346-9611. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-08-13.
^ ^a ^b Ivansson, Hans (2009-02-17). "Nya skolfartyg till marinen". fmv.se (in Swedish). FMV. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2024-02-18.

[:2-1] "26 M Naval training vessel" (PDF). swedeship.se. Swede Ship Marine. 2015-11-24. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-02-20.

[2] "Skolfartyg Altair". www.forsvarsmakten.se (in Swedish). Försvarsmakten. 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2024-02-18.

[:0-3] Petersson, Ulf (2008). "Egenutvecklade skolfartyg bästa lösningen" (PDF). Protec (in Swedish) (3). FMV: 10–11. 0346-9611. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-08-13.

[:1-4] Ivansson, Hans (2009-02-17). "Nya skolfartyg till marinen". fmv.se (in Swedish). FMV. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2024-02-18.

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