Defence & Space

Iron Beam with new laser director

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Israeli Ministry of Defense unveil new Iron Beam laser director. Company to Showcase Full High-Energy…

2025-06-05 | Redakcja | 4 minutes

Rheinmetall receives major international orders for 155mm artillery ammunition

Rheinmetall Denel Munition has received two new orders for 155 mm ERFB artillery ammunition. International customer orders projectiles, propellants and…

2025-06-03 | Redakcja | 3 minutes

Karkonosze Program: A Game-Changer for the Polish Air Force’s Tankers?

The Polish Air Force has been requesting the acquisition of aerial refueling tankers for years. The program to procure a multi-role transport…

2025-05-23 | Sławek Zagórski | 5 minutes

Swedish A26 Submarine and Poland’s Orka Program

In early April, Saab organized a visit for representatives of the Polish defense media to the Saab Kockums shipyard, located in Karlskrona…

2025-05-08 | Przemysław Gurgurewicz | 16 minutes

Iron Beam with new laser director

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Israeli Ministry of Defense unveil new Iron Beam laser director. Company to Showcase Full High-Energy…

2025-06-05 | Redakcja | 4 minutes

Rheinmetall receives major international orders for 155mm artillery ammunition

Rheinmetall Denel Munition has received two new orders for 155 mm ERFB artillery ammunition. International customer orders projectiles, propellants and…

2025-06-03 | Redakcja | 3 minutes

Advancing multi-domain EW operations: Rohde & Schwarz unveils latest innovations at AOC Europe

Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates the next generation of SIGINT/EW systems, sensor fusion and signal analysis solutions, designed to meet the evolving…

2025-05-12 | Redakcja | 2 minutes

Iberian Blackout: Is Poland Prepared for a Similar Scenario?

The blackout on the Iberian Peninsula has prompted a few cautious questions about whether Poland is secure in the event of…

2025-05-02 | Krzysztof Zagórski | 6 minutes

IDET & PYROS 2025: KALAN Tracked Amphibious Vehicle as the Successor to the PTS

During the International Fire Fighting Equipment and Services Fair PYROS (held alongside IDET 2025 in Brno), the Czech company New…

2025-05-30 | Rafał Muczyński | 3 minutes

IDET 2025: Patria AMV XP 8×8 with TURRA 30 Turret

At the International Defence and Security Technologies Fair IDET 2025 in the Czech Republic, Finnish company Patria Oyj showcased its…

2025-05-29 | Rafał Muczyński | 4 minutes

Iron Beam with new laser director

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Israeli Ministry of Defense unveil new Iron Beam laser director. Company to Showcase Full High-Energy…

2025-06-05 | Redakcja | 4 minutes

Rheinmetall receives major international orders for 155mm artillery ammunition

Rheinmetall Denel Munition has received two new orders for 155 mm ERFB artillery ammunition. International customer orders projectiles, propellants and…

2025-06-03 | Redakcja | 3 minutes

IDET & PYROS 2025: KALAN Tracked Amphibious Vehicle as the Successor to the PTS

During the International Fire Fighting Equipment and Services Fair PYROS (held alongside IDET 2025 in Brno), the Czech company New…

2025-05-30 | Rafał Muczyński | 3 minutes

Leonardo and Weststar Join Forces to Supply Helicopters to Malaysia

During the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Italian company Leonardo and Malaysian firm Weststar…

2025-05-20 | Redakcja | 4 minutes

Iron Beam with new laser director

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Israeli Ministry of Defense unveil new Iron Beam laser director. Company to Showcase Full High-Energy…

2025-06-05 | Redakcja | 4 minutes

Rheinmetall receives major international orders for 155mm artillery ammunition

Rheinmetall Denel Munition has received two new orders for 155 mm ERFB artillery ammunition. International customer orders projectiles, propellants and…

2025-06-03 | Redakcja | 3 minutes

Polish Minister of Defence Travels to the U.S. for Meeting with Pete Hegseth

A press conference was held at the 1st Airlift Base with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz…

2025-05-26 | Redakcja | 5 minutes

Another Meeting at the Polish Ministry of National Defence with a Delegation from South Korea’s DAPA

Polish Deputy Minister of National Defence Paweł Bejda met with Deputy Minister of South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA),…

2025-05-14 | Redakcja | 1 minutes

Airbus, CNES and VAST reaffirm commitment to strengthening EO capabilities in Vietnam

Airbus Defence and Space, the French Space Agency, and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology have signed a Declaration of…

2025-05-26 | Redakcja | 2 minutes

ICEYE and IHI start cooperation to develop SAR satellite constellation in Japan

The Polish-Finnish company ICEYE and the Japanese IHI Corporation are beginning cooperation in the construction of a constellation of up to 24…

2025-05-22 | Redakcja | 3 minutes
Shooting

MSBS GROT BULLPUP conversion now available

Fabryka Broni “Łucznik” Radom is introducing long-awaited conversion kits for the MSBS GROT S16 FB-M1 and S10 FB-M1 semi-automatic rifles,…

2025-06-02 | Michał Ihnatów | 3 minutes

IDET 2025: Grand Power Showcases M4M1 Carbines for the Slovak Armed Forces

At the International Defence and Security Technologies Fair IDET 2023 in the Czech Republic, Grand Power — a Slovak firearms manufacturer — showcased…

2025-05-28 | Michał Ihnatów | 4 minutes

MSBS GROT BULLPUP conversion now available

Fabryka Broni “Łucznik” Radom is introducing long-awaited conversion kits for the MSBS GROT S16 FB-M1 and S10 FB-M1 semi-automatic rifles,…

2025-06-02 | Michał Ihnatów | 3 minutes

Streamlight introduces the TLR-8 HL-X and TLR-8 HL-X sub

Streamlight introduces the TLR-8 HL-X flashlight with an integrated laser sight, producing a beam with up to 1,000 lumens of power, offering…

2025-03-18 | Michał Ihnatów | 3 minutes

Protective Rescuer Vest – BC Arms Archangel

The Archangel Rescuer Vest is the result of a collaboration between Polish companies Currahee and BC Arms. It was created in…

2025-05-16 | Mariusz Rams | 6 minutes

Direct Action Spitfire Plate Carrier – Part 1: Testing the Carrier

Nowadays, the market offers a wide range of options in the gear and load-bearing equipment category. One of the most basic…

2025-05-08 | Michał Gaweł | 14 minutes

Enforce Tac 2025 starts on February 24th

Enforce Tac is an international trade fair aimed at law enforcement officers, experts from government agencies, and representatives of the…

2025-01-30 | Michał Ihnatów | 4 minutes

POLSECURE: Holsters HPE Poland offer for uniformed services

At the 3rd International Police and Public Security Fair POLSECURE 2024 in Kielce, Holsters HPE Poland presented its offer for…

2024-05-01 | Redakcja | 2 minutes

MSBS GROT BULLPUP conversion now available

Fabryka Broni “Łucznik” Radom is introducing long-awaited conversion kits for the MSBS GROT S16 FB-M1 and S10 FB-M1 semi-automatic rifles,…

2025-06-02 | Michał Ihnatów | 3 minutes

IDET 2025: Grand Power Showcases M4M1 Carbines for the Slovak Armed Forces

At the International Defence and Security Technologies Fair IDET 2023 in the Czech Republic, Grand Power — a Slovak firearms manufacturer — showcased…

2025-05-28 | Michał Ihnatów | 4 minutes

Setting Up a Shooting Belt: An Example with Clawgear

To assist with shooting training and beyond, various belts and gear configurations have been developed and customized to suit individual needs. It’s…

2024-11-28 | Łukasz Kołodziejski | 14 minutes

Weapon light: a practical tool for everyday service. How to choose?

In the world of armed forces, where every second can determine the outcome of an operation, precision and effectiveness are…

2024-08-29 | Redakcja | 7 minutes

Over 100% increase in gun permits in Poland in 2024

The Polish Police have released statistical data on firearm permits issued in 2024. An increasing number of Poles now hold…

2025-02-20 | Michał Ihnatów | 5 minutes

Firearms In Poland 2023: Number of permits continues to grow

The National Police Headquarters has released statistics regarding the number of firearm permits and firearms themselves in the hands of…

2024-02-17 | Michał Ihnatów | 5 minutes

5 Best Value ATN Rifle Scopes Under €1500

ATN is a leading manufacturer of daytime optics, smart night vision, and thermal vision technology. The innovative features and ergonomic designs…

2022-11-11 | Redakcja | 8 minutes

MILMAG Visits Grand Power

Grand Power is a Slovak manufacturer of the acknowledged good quality firearms. Take part in our guided tour with English subtitles.

2022-05-23 | Redakcja | 1 minutes

Protective Rescuer Vest – BC Arms Archangel

The Archangel Rescuer Vest is the result of a collaboration between Polish companies Currahee and BC Arms. It was created in…

2025-05-16 | Mariusz Rams | 6 minutes

Direct Action Spitfire Plate Carrier – Part 1: Testing the Carrier

Nowadays, the market offers a wide range of options in the gear and load-bearing equipment category. One of the most basic…

2025-05-08 | Michał Gaweł | 14 minutes

EOTECH Holographic Sight – History, Technology, Practice

The holographic sight is a device known for nearly 30 years and used by professionals around the world. A favorite sight of many…

2024-09-02 | Michał Gaweł | 12 minutes

Sweden: Reconnaissance ship Artemis replaces Orion

A ceremony to christen the new SIGINT-class electronic intelligence gathering vessel HSwMS Artemis (A202) took place at the Swedish naval base Karlskrona, replacing the Orion (A201) in service.

On Wednesday, April 3, 2024, a ceremony was held at the Swedish naval base Karlskrona to christen the new electronic intelligence gathering vessel HSwMS Artemis (A202) of the SIGINT class (SIGnals INTelligence, Signalspaningsfartyg), which thereby replaced the Orion (A201) in service in the 1st Submarine Flotilla of the Swedish Navy (Svenska marinen).

Photos: Jimmie Adamsson/Försvarsmakten

In the presence of the commander of the Swedish Navy, Admiral Ewa Skoog-Haslum, the ceremonial christening was performed by Björn Lyrvall, the Director-General of the Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment (Försvarets radioanstalt, FRA) – a government agency responsible for communication intelligence and subordinate to the Ministry of Defence, following which the nameplate on the vessel was unveiled.

Thus, HSwMS Artemis (A202) replaced HSwMS Orion (A201) in service, which was launched almost exactly 40 years ago, in June 1984, at the Saab Kockums shipyard. In practice, the vessel had not been operational for 14 years. On April 22, 2010, the Ministry of Defense removed it from the list of units in active service due to failure to meet safety standards at sea and commissioned the development of its successor.

And so, on April 11, 2017, at Saab Defence and Security, a new vessel was ordered for 730 million SEK (at that time 321 million PLN), and on April 26 of the same year, a subcontracting agreement was awarded to the Polish PGZ Stocznia Wojenna (PGZ Naval Shipyard) in Gdynia, with partial outfitting at the Shiprepair Yard Nauta (also in Gdynia). The design of the unit was handled by the Polish firm MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting.

The first steel cutting ceremony took place on March 1, 2018, and the keel laying on June 15 of the same year.

According to the agreement, between 2017 and 2020, it was to build the complete floating unit and conduct its initial sea trials. It was planned that after completing the work in Poland, Artemis would sail under its own power to the shipyard in Karlskrona, where specialized reconnaissance equipment would be installed on it, and by the end of 2020, the fully prepared vessel would be handed over to the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV).

The collaboration with the PGZ Stocznia Wojenna resulted in the launching of the vessel on April 17, 2019. Subsequently, the ship was transferred to Nauta, where equipment installation works were carried out, but they were interrupted in the spring of 2020. This was due to the poor economic situation of the company, which had been incurring increasing losses annually for years. These losses grew from 4.3 million PLN (1.2 million USD) in 2015 to 57.9 million PLN (16 million USD) net in 2018 and approximately 50 million PLN (13 million USD) in 2019. To avoid creditors filing for the company’s bankruptcy, accelerated arrangement proceedings were initiated on April 15, 2020. By early 2021, the outstanding debt of Shiprepair Yard Nauta to 639 creditors under the arrangement amounted to 320 million PLN (82.9 million USD). Ultimately, on February 15, 2021, the vessel left Nauta and sailed to Sweden. On November 2, 2022, the Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten) press service announced on social media that Artemis had begun factory sea trials. On April 28, 2023, the vessel was handed over to FMV, and on November 15, it was handed over to the navy, which commenced crew training.

From the left: Orion and Artemis

Artemis is 74.6 meters long, 14 meters wide, has a draft of 3.8 meters, approximately 2200 tons of standard displacement, and approximately 3000 tons of full displacement. The maximum speed is 14.7 knots, thanks to four diesel-electric propulsion generators each of 990 kW. The crew consists of 40 officers, sailors, and intelligence specialists.

Meanwhile, in Poland, the construction of two vessels based on the Artemis project is underway for the Polish Navy as part of the Delfin program, serving as successors to the vessels of the project 863: ORP Hydrograf (263) and ORP Nawigator (262). They were ordered from Saab on November 25, 2022, for approximately 620 million USD net (2.91 billion PLN net). The vessels of project 107 will be named ORP Jerzy Różycki (261) and ORP Henryk Zygalski (264), and their keels were laid on July 27, 2023, and January 23, 2024, respectively, at the Remontowa Shipbuilding in Gdańsk (Keel laying for 107/2 (Henryk Zygalski) reconnaissance ship).

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