Today, a 2 billion SEK deal was announced to equip Sweden’s new frigates with weapon systems and sensors.
Saab has signed a contract with the French defence company Naval Group to deliver and integrate weapon control systems and sensors for four FDI frigates to Sweden. The order value is approximately SEK 2 billion and Saab’s deliveries to Naval Group will take place between 2027 and 2034.
The contract comprises equipping the FDI frigates with a Weapon Control System, Fire Control Director Ceros and EOS 500, anti-ship missile RBS15, Saab Lightweight Torpedo as well as Trackfire Remote Weapon Station and the lightweight multi-mission surveillance radar Sea Giraffe 1X.
Sweden is set to receive a total of four of these so-called Luleå-class vessels, the first two in 2030 and the remaining ones in 2035. They are actually FDI frigates built by the French company Naval Group (as Saab’s press release also calls them).
The original plan was for Saab to design an entirely new vessel type, but due to schedule constraints, an existing French model was chosen instead. The history of the project according to Wikipedia:
The Swedish Navy is planning to acquire four new surface combatants focused on air-defence and anti-submarine warfare between 2030-2035. The initial plan was for the so-called Luleå-class frigate to be a clean sheet design by Saab, but due to the aggressive timeline for getting the ships into service an “off the shelf” purchase is now being considered. In June 2025 France and Sweden signed a defence cooperation roadmap which positioned the FDI frigate as a contender for the Luleå class. The Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV) later confirmed that it was evaluating the potential procurement of ships from several different suppliers. In May 2026, Sweden announced that they will purchase FDI frigates with a planned delivery starting in 2030. The contract was signed the 31 August 2026.