Sweden retired its veteran signals intelligence platform, the HSwMS Orion, after 39 years of service in November 2023. By then the sole dedicated SIGINT-vessel of the Navy was in relatively poor shape following a long service life, and it was replaced by the significantly larger new-built HSwMS Artemis.
In a somewhat surprising move, the Royal Swedish Navy has however now declared their intention of bringing back the vessel in a completely new role, as a dedicated testbed for research and development of systems and concepts of operation when it comes to the surveillance of critical underwater infrastructure (CUI). The topic of seabed warfare / CUI protection has risen to the forefront as one of the most important peacetime challenges facing the NATO navies operating in the Baltic Sea, following a string of cut cables and pipelines. In addition, the vessel will retain a secondary SIGINT-tasking, ensuring redundancy in the SIGINT-gathering capabilities of the Swedish Navy. Here as well, the availability of another hull offers the possibility of HSwMS Orion’s usage as a testbed.
