Pohjanmaa-class corvette

Posted by: Andrei Dcs

Pohjanmaa-class is a class of Finnish-designed corveetes developed for the Finnish Navy.

Four Pohjanmaa-class are to be built under the Squadron 2020 (Finnish: Laivue 2020) project.

Pohjanmaa class corvettes will become the largest surface combatants of the Finnish Navy supplementing the four Hamina-class missile boats.

Once in commission, the four new Finnish corvettes will replace the four Rauma-class missile boats, two Hämeenmaa-class minelayers, and the Pohjanmaa minelayer, all of which will be decommissioned.

All the four Pohjanmaa corvettes will be locally-built by Rauma Marine Constructions between 2022 and 2025.

The ships are planned to be commissioned in 2028.

Program cost and unit cost of the Pohjanmaa corvettes

The cost for building all the four Pohjanmaa corvettes is estimated at 1.3 billion euro.

Thus each Pohjanmaa corvette will have a unit cost of 326 million euro.

Displacement and dimensions of the Pohjanmaa class corvette

The Pohjanmaa class corvette has a displacement of approximatelly 3,900 tons.

The new generation of Finnish surface combatants measures 114 m (374 ft) in lenght, has a beam of 16 meters (52 ft) and a draught of 5 meters (16 ft).

Regarding its displacement and dimensions, Pohjanmaa can be classified as a heavy corvette or a light frigate.

Propulsion of the Pohjanmaa corvettes

Pohjanmaa class uses a combined diesel-electric and gas (CODLAG) type propulsion with a total installed power of about 30 MW.

It is powered by one GE LM2500 gas turbine and four MAN 12V175D generating sets, each MAN 12V175D generator having a power of 1,920 kW.

The Pohjanmaa corvette also has two shafts with controllable pitch propellers and two bow thrusters.

Pohjanmaa class corvette speed and range

Pohjanmaa can reach a maximum speed of over 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph) and has a maximum range of about 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi).

Pohjanmaa class complement

The complement of each Pohjanmaa unit will be made up of approximately 70 persons.

Sensors and processing systems installed aboard the Pohjanmaa corvettes

Pohjanmaa-class corvettes will be equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and processing systems provided by Saab and Kongsberg.

The combat management system (CMS) will be the Saab 9LV CMS.

Saab will also provide the radars, including a Saab Sea Giraffe 4A FF 3D AESA radar, a Saab Sea Giraffe 1X short-range 3D radar, and two Saab Ceros 200 radar and optronic tracking fire control directors.

Three sonars will be fitted onboard the Pohjanmaa corvettes: a dual-tow Patria Sonac DTS sonar, a Kongsberg SS2030 hull-mounted sonar, and a Kongsberg SD9500 sonar.

Electronic Warfare Systems and decoys of the Pohjanmaa class

The electronic warfare systems and the decoys used by Pohjanmaa include ESM, COM-ESM, ECM and four MASS decoy systems.

Armament of the Pohjanmaa class corvettes

The future Finnish Pohjanmaa-class corvettes will be fitted with various weapons including guns, anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles, as well as mines and torpedoes.

Onboard guns will be a 57 mm/70 Bofors SAK Mk3 naval gun and two Saab Trackfire remote weapon stations (RWS).

The anti-ship capability will be provided by Gabriel 5 surface-to-surface anti-ship missiles.

For aerial warfare, Pohjanmaa will have 32 Evolved Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles.

Naval mines and Saab Torped 47 anti-submarine torpedoes completes the range of weapons installed onboard.

Aviation facilities of the Pohjanmaa class

Like any other modern corvette, Pohjanmaa will have a helipad and a hangar to be able to operate onboard a medium utility helicopter.