LONDON — The Royal Swedish Navy has signed a deal to buy Common Anti-air Modular Missiles from MBDA, the manufacturer announced Nov. 16.
The Nordic nation ordered the CAMM weapon to arm its futuristic-looking Visby-class corvette with a short-range anti-air capability. The move is part of a larger effort by Saab Kockums to upgrade the five-strong fleet of stealth corvettes.
The Swedish shipyard is scheduled to commence installation of Sea Ceptor on the first Visby corvette at the end of 2025, with and plans to hand over the first ship to the naval force about 12 months later, according to FMV, the nation’s defense procurement arm.
FMV noted it wants the capability in place as soon as possible.
The CAMM weapon is fired from MBDA’s Sea Ceptor air defense system, which has scored a clutch of export customers since it entered service with the British Royal Navy in 2018. Among others, they include naval customers in Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Brazil.
Poland is buying the land version of CAMM but also plans to deploy the weapon on its Miecznik-class frigates, which are based on Babcock International’s Arrowhead 140 design. The British Royal Navy has ordered Type 31 vessels based on the same design.
Eric Beranger, MBDA’s chief executive, said the weapon will bolster Sweden’s contribution to NATO.
“CAMM will provide Sweden and the Royal Swedish Navy with a formidable air defence capability that gives the country a strong new contribution to NATO together with other allied Sea Ceptor users like the Royal Navy,” he said in a statement.
Neither Sweden nor MBDA provided a contract value for the CAMM order.
The CAMM has a range in excess of 25 kilometers (16 miles). MBDA’s U.K. arm originally developed the weapon for the British military, which has deployed it for ground-based and naval air defense roles.
Andrew Chuter is the United Kingdom correspondent for Defense News.
