Royal Navy of Skandinavia

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Kongelige Sjøforsvaret av Skandinavia
Royal Navy of Skandinavia
KU Monogram SJF.png
Coat of Arms of Sjøforsvaret.
Founded 955 (not official Norway)
1510 Denmark
1522 Sweden
1951 Skandinavia
Country  Skandinavia
Allegiance Forsvaret av Skandinavia
Size 78000 Professional men and women
165 Ships including auxiliary and patrol ships
190 Landing crafts
240 Combat Boats
184 Aircraft of the Fleet Air Wing
Part of Forsvaret
Engagements (Only shown engagements from WWII. For previous engagements of the Danish, Norwegian of Swedish navies see Wikipedia)World War II (1940–45)
Cold War (1945–90)
UN Operations in Congo (1960-1964)
Operation Desert Shield (1990–91)
Operation Sharp Guard (1993–96)
Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003)
War in Afghanistan (2002-)
Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (2003-)
Operation Juniper Shield (2007-)
Operation Atalanta (2008-)
Commanders
KoSJF Admiral Niels Throndsen
Øverstkommanderende (Commander-in-Chief) Frederik II
Insignia
Naval Ensign SK Naval insignia.png

Kongelige Sjøforsvaret av Skandinavia (Royal Navy of Skandinavia), often abbreviated as Sjøforsvaret, is the branch of Forsvaret responsible for naval operations. Until 2001 the navy also includes the Kystvakt (Coast Guard) wich missions are now carried by the Kongelige Gendarmeri.

Sjøforsvaret vessels are given the ship prefix "KSS", short for "Kongelige Skandinavian Skip (Royal Skandinavian Ship).

Current Role

The current role of Sjøforsvaret is to protect Skandinavian interests at home and abroad, executing the foreign and defence policies of His Majesty's Government through the exercise of military effect, diplomatic activities and other activities in support of these objectives. These objectives are delivered via a number of core capabilities:

  • Provision of at least three medium scale maritime task groups with organic air assets.
  • Delivery of SJF Marineinfanteriet force.
  • Maintenance of standing patrol commitments.
  • Provision of Mine Counter Measures capability to Skandinavia and allied commitments.
  • Provision of Hydrographic and meteorological services deployable worldwide.
  • Protection of Skandinavian Exclusive Economic Zone.

Ranks and insignias

See: Forsvaret ranks, insignias and uniforms

SJF OF A.png

Structure

Since the formation of the nation, the military has been undergoing a process of integration and modernization not only in equipment but also in their structure and organization. In this process Sjøforsvaret has now a simple and effective organization that has an impact on improved effectiveness.

The major operational command is Sjøforsvaret Hovedkvarter (Navy Headquarters). It is located at Haakonsvern Orlogsstasjon, in Bergen municipality and all the Sjøforsvaret units are under its command.

The Sjøforsvaret is structured as follows:

  • SJF Flåte (Sjøforsvaret Fleet)
    • Østersjøflåten (Baltic Fleet)
    • Nordhavsflåten (North Sea Fleet)
    • Arktiskflåten (Arctic Fleet)
    • Antarktis Eskadre (Antarctic Squadron)
  • SJF Projeksjonsflåte (Projection Fleet)
    • Projection Task Force 1
    • Projection Task Force 2
  • SJF Luftvåpenet (Sjøforsvaret Air Wing)
  • SJF Marineinfanteriet (Sjøforsvaret Marine Infantry)
  • SJF Skoler (Sjøforsvaret Schools)

Naval bases

Sjøforsvaret naval bases
Entrance to Haakonsvern orlogsstasjon
Entrance to Haakonsvern underground drydock
Haakonsvern underground drydock
Haakonsvern orlogsstasjon

Bases in Skandinavia

Main bases

  • Haakonsvern orlogsstasjon: It is the main base of the Sjøforsvaret and the largest naval base in the Nordic area. It is the home of Sjøforsvaret Hovedkvarter (Navy Headquarters). The base is located at Mathopen within Bergen municipality, about 15 km south-west of the city centre. Around 10,400 people work at the base as military personnel or civilian staff. The base was established in 1962 when the main naval activities were moved from Horten in the Oslofjord to Bergen. Haakonsvern contains the Royal Skandinavian Naval Training Establishment (KNM Tordenskjold) as well as repair and maintenance facilities, including an underground dock facility with the capacity to take frigates.
  • Olavsvern orlogsstasjon: It is the most important base in Northern Skandinavia, located just outside the city of Tromsø at the entrance to the Ramfjorden from the Balsfjorden, and employs more than 6500 people as military or civilian staff. The station was built secretly during the Cold War from 1961 to 1967 as complex mainly carved into a mountain. The base comprises 25,000 square meters of mountain facilities laid below 274 meters of mountain, housing stock of 13,000 square meters and 3000 meters of deep water quay. In one of the mountain halls there is a dry dock for submarines able to house up to six submarines at a time. The base has a 740 meter long dock, its own dry dock, workshops, offices and ammunition stores. In addition, the base had an outside floating quay that could serve larger ships, including super-carriers. The entrance to the facility consists of an over 900 meter long tunnel. Since it was opened it has become the main base for Arctic operations. It is the northermost main naval station in the world.
  • Karlskrona orlogsstasjon: It is the third largest naval base of the Sjøforsvaret. Located in Blekinge in southern SKandinavia, the base has close ties with the city of Karlskrona. It has an exceptionally well-sheltered location: arcs of islands provide a strong defense not only from the sea but also from land attacks. Construction started in 1685 and once finished it became the most importan Swedish base. Since the creation of Skandinavia, Karlskrona orlogsstasjon is the main Sjøforsvaret in the Baltic Sea.
  • Muskö orlogsstasjon: It is and Skandinavian underground naval facility on the island of Muskö just south of Stockholm in Haninge Municipality (Haninge Kommun). The construction of the base started in 1950 and was completed 19 years later in 1969. During the construction about 1.5 million tons of rock were removed. It has 3 docks, originally designed for destroyers and submarines. The underground base itself has an area of several km² and is connected by 20 km of underground roads.
  • Frederikshavn orlogsstasjon: It is the second largest naval base of the Sjøforsvaret and the most important one in Jutland. It was opened in 1962 and employs more than 4400 people. Among other things, it is the most important logistics center of the Sjøforsvaret.

Secondary bases

  • Ramsund marinstasjon
  • København marinestasjon
  • Korsør marinestasjon
  • Berga marinestasjon
  • Karljohansvern marinestasjon
  • Stavanger marinestasjon
  • Runavík marinestasjon
  • Reykjanesbær marinestasjon

Naval air bases

  • Ronneby flystasjon
  • Læsø flystasjon
  • Bergen flystasjon
  • Harstad flystasjon
  • Keflavik flystasjon

Bases abroad

Organization

SJF Flåte (Fleet)

SJF Projeksjonsflåte (Projection Fleet)

SJF Luftvåpenet (Air Wing)

SJF Marineinfanteri

  • 1st Marine Infantry Brigade
  • 2nd Marine Infantry Brigade
  • 3rd Marine Infantry Brigade
  • 1st Marine Infantry Arctic Battalion
  • 2nd Marine Infantry Arctic Battalion
  • Marine Infantry Special Operations Company

SJF Taktisk Båtskvadron (Tactical Boat Squadron)

SJF Skoler (Schools)

Future Projects

In order to effectively carry out the tasks entrusted to it, the Sjøforsvaret is always immersed in the development of new ships and weapons that keep it at the forefront of technology. Together with FLOSK and Forsvarsforskningsagentur, the Sjøforsvaret is working on the following projects:

2020 Aircraft Carrier

Skandinavian Vorma Class carriers, KSS Frigg and KSS Freyja, are ex-Sierran Kitty Hawk class designed in the 60's and manufactured in the 70's. Even if they were fully upgraded at Skandinavian standars at the end of the 90's, its original construction has always conditioned its operability and suitability for the missions that had been beset. Keeping them operational during the last years has not been easy and has meant an important disbursement that in the end has motivated that since 2015 only one of the two is in active service.

In 2008 the different agencies participating in the project began to study the need for a new aircraft carrier if the Sjøforsvaret wanted to continue guaranteeing its capabilities. Again the option of adapting a more modern foreign design was raised, but the possibility was soon ruled out because the designs of "accessible" countries did not match the needs of the Sjøforsvaret. At that time the British and French were working on the joint development of a new aircraft carrier (although France would abandon the project shortly after) that best suited the operational needs of the navy. Some contacts were maintained although the possibility of joining the project was finally abandoned mainly because the British, now alone in the project, opted for a STOVL configuration instead of CATOBAR that was more in line with the requirements of the Sjøforsvaret. At the end of 2009 the options to maintain the projection capacity of the Sjøforsvaret beyond 2020 only left open the door of a national design for the new aircraft carrier. Finally in February 2010, the King signed a decree calling for a national consortium of companies to design the new Skandinavian aircraft carrier. The permanence of availability that had characterized the Skandinavian naval doctrine since the 90's would not be possible with a single carrier, so a second aircraft carrier would have to be built in the project.

In March 2011, the consortium Skandinaviske Hangarskip 2020 led by Aker Yards and Odense Staalskibsværft submitted the first proposals to the Sjøforsvaret according with its specifications. The question of choosing the propulsion was the main topic in the preliminary discussions. The choice of a CATOBAR configuration that allowed to use a naval version of the Saab 39 Gripen was a mandatory specification, which conditioned the ship's energy needs to be able to operate the catapults. On the other hand, there was the choice of the catapult system, since the configuration of fully electric propulsion that had been a constant in the navy ships forced the use of electromagnetic catapults because they lack a boiler capable of producing steam to be used in the traditional steam catapults. All these considerations led to the option of nuclear propulsion for the new aircraft carrier. The experience with the Eirik Raude Class Nuclear Powered Submarine made ASEA to be involved in the Skandinaviske Hangarskip 2020 consortium and finally on July 2012 the final proposal was went to the Sjøforsvaret.

At the beginning of September 2012, the government authorized a special budget of 1,166 million KKroner (220 million dollars) to begin the preparation work. The total budget for the construction of the two ships would amount to 30,263 million KKroner (5,710 million dollars) distributed over the years of the construction.

2020 Destroyer

With the Galdhøpiggen Class Destroyers (ex Spruance) retirement planned for 2024, the Sjøforsvaret started a program for the new destroyer class in 2014. With the experience acquired with the StanFlex modular system, a new Destroyer class was designed between 2012 and 2014. The coincidence of this project with that of the new aircraft carrier added an extra difficulty to the project, since the main shipyards were already involved in a large-scale project. The standardization of the StanFlex system allowed to accelerate the construction and to make smaller shipyards participants in the project, so that the new ships were ready in the planned deadlines.

Future Naval Air Combatant

Although the current F/A 18 Super Hornet are planned to have an operational life until at least 2025, the navy began to study its replacement at the same time that the future aircraft carrier was being planned. Although some options were considered, especially the new F-35, it was decided to adapt the design of the Saab 39 Gripen to a navalized version. This solution would allow for greater standardization of systems and budget savings in the medium and long term.

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