One of the most important capacity renewal programs of the Swedish Navy is the construction of two new A26 Blekinge-class attack submarines. Currently, two units, designated HMS Blekinge and HMS Skåne, are being built by Saab Kockums at its Karlskrona facilities. However, according to the latest reports from the Swedish Armed Forces, it has been revealed that the program will face additional delays in the completion and delivery schedule, which will be postponed until the next decade.
Originally conceived, designed, and developed to complement and eventually replace the Gotland class (as well as the Västergötland-class unit), the A26 submarines represent the pinnacle of Sweden’s industrial and naval capabilities for building new attack submarines. However, since its inception, the program, which involves an initial investment of 8.6 billion Swedish kronor, has faced sustained delays since 2015, when the original contracts were signed.
Through a budget report presented by the country’s Armed Forces, they confirmed, without providing further details, that “The project is delayed, which will require renegotiation in terms of time and finances… The consequences of the expected delays in delivery are being assessed by the Armed Forces,” adding that the revised delivery date for the two submarines, according to the 2026 budget plan, would be pushed to the 2031-2035 period. For comparison, the 2025 budget plan set the delivery for the 2026-2030 period.
As noted, this is not a minor detail, as it first delays the country’s submarine capability renewal plan at a time of great tension in Europe. The sustained increase in costs and the necessary investment for modernization has also been mentioned. Additionally, it must be pointed out that the current units of the Swedish Submarine Force will have to operate longer than originally projected.
Another consideration, in the realm of assumption, is that these sustained delays hinder the A26 class from having good prospects for export to third countries seeking to renew their submarine fleets. For instance, the Blekinge was not selected for the Dutch Navy’s new attack submarine program, which chose a conventional propulsion version of the Barracuda class from Naval Group, named Orka, following the Dutch naval tradition of naming their submarine classes after marine animals.
Returning to the second point, the delay of the A26 class is being mitigated through various upgrade and life-extension programs for the Gotland and Västergötland-class submarines. Recently, the last modernized Gotland-class submarine, HMS Halland, was once again launched to begin navigation and acceptance tests for its reentry into the Swedish Navy, thus completing the modernization program for the class.
Furthermore, the new delays would involve an increase in the program’s costs. The original 8.6 billion kronor investment from 2015 was renegotiated in 2021, modifying the figure to 14 billion kronor, a sum that is expected to be updated again.
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