NORFOLK. VA, March 23,2005
The U.S. Navy and the Swedish Navy signed a Memorandum of Understanding March 21 that will begin a bilateral training effort, providing a Swedish advanced diesel submarine and crew for U.S. Navy fleet anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training.
The partnership will focus on ASW system test and evaluation, as well as the combined development of naval capabilities.
“Recent establishment of the Fleet ASW Command in San Diego, Calif., combined with the planned deployment of a state-of-the-art Swedish diesel sub and crew to the West Coast, provides our forces innovative opportunities to train during combined exercises,” said U.S. Fleet Forces Command Director of Readiness and Training, Rear Admiral Don Bullard.
The Swedish Navy will provide an advanced diesel submarine, a Gotland-class air independent propulsion (AIP) submarine, for the U.S. Navy’s long-term use. ASW training will be conducted from San Diego and attached to Submarine Squadron 11. The Swedish submarine will be Swedish-flagged, commanded, manned and operated. U.S. Navy personnel will be aboard the Swedish submarine as riders and observers for training purposes.
The mission of this training effort is to conduct focused and integrated ASW training and assessment of the U.S. Navy’s fleet ASW operations, tactics and doctrine, and ASW education.
The U.S.-Swedish effort will focus on acoustic analysis performance of fleet operators aboard all ASW platforms; theater, carrier/expeditionary strike group, unit-level ship, aviation squadron and submarine levels ASW performance assessments against standardized, common metrics; individual student ASW training and qualifications; and overall theater undersea warfare capability.
“This U.S.-Swedish effort will demonstrate the further development of international interoperability between the two nations,” said Inspector of the Royal Swedish Navy, Rear Adm.
Jorgen Ericsson.
Nations around the globe continue to acquire quiet and lethal submarines designed to operate in littoral regions and the open ocean. With advanced developments in weaponry and propulsion, the nature of ASW has changed, increasing the risks to operations at sea.
Control of littoral environments is essential to ensuring prompt access for joint forces moving ashore from the sea. Future ASW effectiveness in this critical area demands a dedicated focus on sensors, operational doctrine, and fleet ASW training. Through U.S. and Swedish efforts, both navies are meeting this challenge head on, and preparing for the future.
“This will vastly improve our capability to conduct realistic, effective antisubmarine warfare training that is so critical to the Navy’s ability to accomplish our mission,” said Bullard. “It also expands our efforts in developing coalition ASW tactics, techniques and procedures. This is a great opportunity for both navies, and we are very excited about it.”
This bilateral effort is a great example of the U.S. and Swedish Navies’ commitment to ensure that our naval service and those of our allies and partners retain operational primacy at sea.
