Visby-class

A Swedish stealth corvette built almost entirely from radar-absorbent sandwich composite, designed for anti-submarine, mine countermeasure and surface-strike roles in the Baltic archipelago. Its low radar, acoustic, magnetic and infrared signatures made it one of the first true stealth surface combatants in the world.

In service since 2002 · 1 operator countries

Compiled from public sources ·primary reference ↗ ·last verified 2026-07-02

640

2,300

nmi

crew

Procurement snapshot

Availability & export

Swedish export-licensed

ISP licensing; EU/Wassenaar controls.

Channel: Direct commercial / G2G

Fielded & proven

Limited · 1 operator

In service since 2002. Status: active · ~5 built.

Lifecycle cost (est.)

No public unit price to model from.

Interoperability

No standardised NATO calibre / datalink detected in public specs.

Derived guidance from public data — export regime by country of origin, lifecycle from the GAO ~30% acquisition rule. Verify eligibility, pricing and offsets with the manufacturer and your acquisition authority.

Full specifications

Firepower

Armament, payload and guidance.

Main armament Primary weapon: main gun, cannon or missile type.: 1x 57 mm Bofors SAK 57 Mk3 naval gun
Torpedo tubes Number of torpedo tubes (submarines and some surface ships).: 4

Stronger than 28% of warships

Physical

Dimensions, weight and crew.

Length Overall length including gun/probe where applicable.: 72.7 m

Naval

Displacement, speed, endurance and diving depth.

Displacement Standard displacement in tonnes — the ship’s size class. Larger hulls carry more but cost more and are less agile.: 640 t
Full-load displacement Displacement fully loaded with fuel, stores and munitions.: 640 t
Max speed Top speed in knots (surfaced, for submarines). Higher aids positioning and screening.: 35 kn

Top 2% of warships
Range Cruising range in nautical miles. Nuclear vessels are effectively unlimited (fuel-wise). Higher means more reach without replenishment.: 2,300 nmi

Bottom 3% of warships
Complement Crew size. Fewer eases manning cost; more may indicate a larger, more capable platform.: 43
Propulsion plant Machinery type — nuclear reactor, gas turbine (COGAG), CODAG, diesel-electric, AIP.: CODOG: gas turbines + diesel engines, waterjet propulsion

Sensors & avionics

Radar, sensor suite and datalinks.

Radar Primary radar. AESA (active electronically scanned array) is the current state of the art.: Saab Sea Giraffe AMB
Sensors IRST, EO/IR turrets, laser designators, sniper pods, thermal sights.: hull-mounted sonar, variable depth sonar

Program

Cost, production scale and operators.

Units built Total production run. Higher means proven manufacturing, mature logistics and spares availability.: 5

Stronger than 70% of warships
Operator countries Number of countries operating the system. More operators means broader support ecosystem.: 1

Stronger than 45% of warships

Specifications compiled from public Saab AB and reference sources ↗. Published defense figures are approximations — treat comparisons as directional. Last verified 2026-07-02.

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