Koster is the Best Minehunter

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you here to celebrate this handover of HMS Koster to our customer, the Swedish Defence Matriel Administration. I always find the handover of a vessel to be a very special and very satisfying experience, said Kockums CEO Jan-Olof Johansson.>> HMS Koster and HMS Vinga are scheduled to be handed over to the Royal Swedish Navy in March next year. A total of seven Landsort-class MCMVs were built in Karlskrona between the years 1984 and 1992. At that time, these were the Swedish Navys first truly dedicated mine-countermeasures vessels, while retaining full minesweeping capability. The vessels have since been actively deployed on a range of challenging missions, clearly demonstrating their capabilities.>> These operations have also provided valuable experience prior to the upgrade. This period has also seen considerable and rapid technological development. Consequently, the new Koster series, as it will be known, is at the leading edge of naval technology. New combat management systems, surveillance radar and fire-control systems, with new sonar and new Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs), constitute the most important elements of this new concept.>> I should like to express my gratitude to FMV and the Swedish Armed Forces for their close and excellent collaboration. And, of course, I wish to thank Kockums project manager Pr Lilja and all his colleagues for their fine performance. Finally, I should like to wish Commander Mathias Jansson and his crew all the very best, said Jan-Olof, concluding his welcome address.