On 18 August 2005 Nykõping, Sweden's fourth Visby-class multipurpose guided-missile patrol craft was launched in preparation for a 2006 delivery. Next year, the vessel will join lead sister ship Visby along with second of the class, Helsingborg, and third unit, Härnösand, in naval service. She will be followed by a fifth and final ship, Karlstad, in 2007. Numerous advanced measures have been taken during design and construction to reduce the radar, infrared, magnetic, acoustic, visual, laser, and wake signatures of the class. As a result of these and other design advances, the class has heavily influenced the U.S. Navy's littoral combat ship (LCS) program. Fitted with a 57-mm dual-purpose cannon, these warships can also carry RBS-15 antiship missiles, type 45 torpedoes, antisubmarine rockets, and a single multi-purpose helicopter.
The Republic of Malta's Maritime Squadron took delivery of its newest offshore patrol vessel this October. Ordered on 11 March 2004, the vessel, numbered P 61, was built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, and is based on an earlier Italian Coast Guard design. The as yet unnamed craft is 54 meters long, displaces 450 tons, and can travel at speeds in excess of 20 knots. Capable of refueling a small helicopter, P 61 is armed with a 25-mm cannon and has a stern ramp that can handle a Zodiac-type, rigid inflatable boat. She joins several older patrol craft and two retired U.S. Coast Guard Marine Protector-class patrol boats already in service.
On 22 September 2005 at Nordseewerke shipyard in Emden, Germany, the keel was laid on Erfurt, the third of five German Type K-130 corvettes, expected to join the German fleet by 2008. Work on the Type K-130s is divided among several shipyards, with sections of each warship constructed at different locations and then brought together at a lead yard for final assembly. First of the class, Braunschweig, whose bow section is shown under construction, will be completed by Blohm + Voss in May 2007. Blohm + Voss will also lead assembly of the fourth unit, Oldenburg, expected in service the following year. Lürssen is the lead shipyard for the second of the class, Magdeburg, due to enter service in 2007 and the fifth unit, Ludwigshafen, which will complete in 2008. Once in service, each Type K-130 corvette will displace 1,700 tons and will be able to operate two helicopter surveillance drones or a single helicopter. They will be armed with RBS-15 antiship missiles, RIM 116 Rolling Airframe surface-to-air missiles, and a single 76-mm dual-purpose cannon.
Combat Fleets
By Eric Wertheim, Editor, <i>Combat Fleets of the World</i>