Kockums
Kockums is part of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. Kockums stands for leading-edge, world-class naval technology - above and below the surface. Kockums designs, builds and maintains submarines and naval surface vessels that incorporate the most advanced stealth technology. Other successful products include the Stirling Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system, the Kockums Submarine Rescue System and mine clearence systems. Operations are based in Sweden in Malmö, in Muskö and in Karlskrona.
Kockums has taken over the naval engineering workshops on the island of Muskö. Conseguently, repair and maintenance resources have expanded in the Stockholm area. This is something the Swedish Navy has long wanted. Maintenance is an important and growing sector for the company. It often involves advanced upgrades and modernization, especially in the case of the Swedish Navy, which is reconfiguring its vessels for service with the rapid reaction force and international operations far from home. All former employees of the naval engineering workshop at Muskö have been offered continued employment under the new owner, a chance they have taken, and the workforce now comprises some 70 employees. The Site Manager at Muskö, as before, is Mr. Per Sundberg. The strategy for Muskö includes plans for other players and Kockums to build up a service and maintenance centre on the site. Efforts will be made to broaden the scope of operations to include commercial activities.
The tender submitted and won by Kockums concerns provision of ship maintenance and engine-repair services by the Muskö naval engineering facility, for an initial period of three years, with an option to extend the contract for a further two years. In terms of commercial real estate, this involves the takeover of two docks and offices, as well as a number of other buildings. “This is a good solution for us, and we are positive to the idea. We now look forward to working together and investing in the future,” notes Per Sundberg, who has been appointed Kockums’ site manager.
There are also plans to expand operations at the Muskö facility to include commercial vessels. Kockums, in alliance with a network of subcontractors, is determined to transform the Muskö facility into a marine engineering centre. Looking a few years ahead, there are also plans to establish a container and ro-ro port in Nynäshamn, in partnership with Stockholms Hamn (Ports of Stockholm). The idea is that shipping will avoid having to navigate all the way into Stockholm, being able to dock in the outer archipelago instead. The transit time between Nynäshamn and Muskö is not long, and their relative proximity will almost certainly generate a number of repair and maintenance assignments.
The Visby project continues according to plan in Karlskrona shipyard, and four vessels have been handed over to the customer, The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV). The fifth of series is currently undergoing trials. At Karlskrona, the Swedish Navy Gotland-class submarine, HMS Halland, has undergone extensive modernization. The Landsort project forges ahead and HMS Koster has been out on sea trials. Work on the export order involving two submarines for the Republic of Singapore Navy is also intensive. The Swedish Government has stated continued commitment to the development of a next generation submarine, and given a go-ahead to initiate the design phase. www.patria.fi/finavitec Finland made a point of purchasing equipment from both the Soviets and the West. One Finnish Air Force wing operated Soviet-built MiG-21 fighters (and thereby gave Western observers a particularly good look at them). A second such unit flew fighter aircraft built in Sweden. Great Britain provided an electronic air defense control system, while also supplying advanced trainer aircraft that were assembled in Finland. The Finnish firm of Finavitec, formerly known as Valmet, also built aircraft of its own. Since 1922 it has constructed 30 different types, including 19 of Finnish design. The collapse of the Soviet Union, after 1990, gave Finland greater freedom to turn to the West. Finavitec has responded by arranging to assemble Boeing F-18C fighters for Finland's Air Force.Assembling F-18C Hornet fighters for the Finnish Air Force from kits up to the year 2000, plus their engines. Component manufacture includes tail surfaces for Saab 2000 (ending) and fuselage panels for Hornet. Finavitec was taken over from Valmet Aviation Industries. Valmet Aviation Industries Inc., was later Finavitec Oy, was later Patria Finavitec Oy, was later Patria Aviation Oy. Patria Industries is a Finnish technology group whose business activities include defence, aerospace and space, and telecommunications products and services. Among the most important products and services are aircraft and helicopter maintenance, aerospace structures and electronic systems, military and special vehicles, airport snow removal equipment and weapon systems. Patria Group´s annual sales in 1998 totalled up to EUR 178 million and the Group employs over 2000 people. Patria Finavitec Oy, Patria Finavicomp Oy and Patria Ostermans AB form the Finavitec Business Group in Patria Group. Patria Finavitec Oy is specialised in the aerospace and electronic technologies. In February 1997, only four and a half years into a 13-year industrial participation program, McDonnell Douglas had already satisfied more than two-thirds of the offset obligation to Finland for the country's buy of 64 F/A-18 Hornets in 1992. The industrial participation program was valued at more than USD $3 billion. "Through a highly successful industrial participation program with our company, Finland has received more than $2 billion in economic benefit well in advance of return payments for the F/A-18s it has purchased," said Michael M. Sears, president of McDonnell Douglas Aerospace. "This is solid proof of how our industrial participation programs can significantly contribute to a country's industrial and economic base while dramatically improving its national defense capabilities," he added. The industrial participation program had about 170 Finnish companies participating in more than 400 projects that have been initiated or approved for the program. These companies represent a broad spectrum of Finland's industries, including transportation, telecommunications, shipbuilding, construction, pulp and paper, energy and specialty equipment. The primary focus of these industries in the industrial participation program has been on acquiring technologies that enhance their efficiency and competitiveness and on promoting the export of their high value goods and services. As a result, new markets have been opened for Finnish companies in such countries as Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, India, Israel, Philippines, Mexico, Malaysia, Venezuela and Turkey. Another important element of the industrial participation program is the co-production of the F/A-18 aircraft by Finavitec, Finland's largest aerospace company. Finavitec produced fuselage side panels and dorsal covers for the aircraft, as well as performing final assembly of 57 single-seat F/A-18Cs. Six aircraft have been assembled by Finavitec by early 1997, with the remainder scheduled for completion by 2000. McDonnell Douglas delivered the first seven two-seat F/A-18Ds in 1995. The success of McDonnell Douglas' industrial participation program in Finland is based in part on the company's close ties with more than 400 suppliers and business partners in 76 countries throughout the world. These companies, which represent some of the biggest names in every major industry, have sales exceeding USD $260 billion. McDonnell Douglas had revenues exceeding USD $13.8 billion in 1996. Besides Finland, McDonnell Douglas has more than 40 other offset programs in over 25 different countries, making it the world leader in developing and implementing industrial participation programs. All programs completed to date have met or exceeded the offset obligation on or ahead of schedule. For centuries the Swiss, situated at the very crossroads of northern and southern Europe,have defied tyrants and maintained their independence and neutrality against threats from whateverdirection. Switzerland is a small nation, about twice the size of New Jersey, with a population of6.5 million. Her land boundaries total 1,171 miles, and include borders with Italy, France, WestGermany, Austria, and Liechtenstein. Switzerland's geographic position, astride thecommunications lines between NATO's central and southern regions is evidence of an importanceto the West far beyond what its physical size would suggest.Julius Caesar conquered this important region, and so later did the armies of the FrenchRevolution. Aside from these conquests, Switzerland has been successful for most of its historyin maintaining its independence-from the time of the founding of the Swiss Confederation in 1291to the present This success has been due in part to the unique militia system that bonds the civilianand military features of citizenship so completely and effectively in Switzerland.All physically fit male citizens serve in the armed forces from age 20 to 50. Like the case inthe ancient Roman Republic, the bearing of arms is the visible sign of full Swiss citizenship. Thecenturies-old tradition of compulstory military service for every physically fit male citizen hasresulted in an intimate alliance between the people and the army, to an extent unknown in any othercountry. The idea of general military service has not only sprung from the military principle ofmilitary preparedness of the country, but also from the constitutional principle of the equality of allcitizens before the law. [51]After finishing initial training, the young soldier returns home with his personal weapon,ammunition, equipment, and uniform. He is responsible for looking after them until he receiveshis discharge from the army at the age of 50.[52]Switzerland was neutral during World War U and, like Sweden, Switzerland found it difficultand dangerous to maintain that neutrality. On 30 August 1939, two days before Hitler attackedPoland, the Swiss Parliament confirmed General Henri Guisan as Commander in Chief of theSwiss Armed Forces. On September 1, when Germany invaded Poland, General Guisan wentbefore the Government and asked for authority to mobilize the Army. It was ordered the sameday, and by noon on 3 September, when Britain declared war on Germany, the Swiss Army of435,000 (out of a population then of 4.2 million) was deployed for defense of the nation.[53]After the fall of France in June 1940, many people in Switzerland feared for their country'sexistence. They felt sure that where larger and more powerful nations had been unable towithstand the German military might, so too their tiny country would be condemned to a similarfate. At this time of despair, General Guisan quietly assembled all the senior Swiss Army officersin Rutli Meadow, the hallowed ground on which the Swiss Confederation had been founded in1291. He inspired them with the courage to defend their country, to fight on to the last man, ifnecessary, in a national redoubt, and appealed to the concept of the Swiss as the guardians of themountains, a mystical theme that recurs in Swiss literature. [54] The effect was profound andenergized the efforts not only of the Army but of the whole nation.86 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 10 rrfAdolf Hitler, who was not the easiest man to deter from committing acts of aggression, andwho had annexed or attacked Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, theNetherlands, and France, and was yet to attack many other nations, was dissuaded from launchingan invasion of Switzerland because he knew the German tiger would get a mouth full of quills if itbit into the Swiss porcupine. Even so, Switzerland was not completely spared a taste of the war inEurope. There were numerous dogfights between intruding German aircraft and defending Swissaircraft in which the Swiss gave a very good account of themselves. Upon the fall of France,thousands of French soldiers fled into Switzerland to be interned. British bombers, enroute tobomb German and Italian targets, often violated Swiss airspace, were regularly fired upon bySwiss anti-aircraft fire, and sometimes mistakenly dropped bombs on Swiss territory. The UnitedStates also violated Swiss airspace and mistakenly dropped bombs on Swiss territory, for whichthe United States later paid reparations. [55]With an armed forces consisting at any given time of about 1,500 regulars and 18,000recruits, Switzerland can mobilize 1,100,000 men within 48 hours, a rapidity and thoroughness ofmobilization that would be hard to equal by any other nation in the world. Switzerland spendsmore than 20% of its national budget on defense and receives a very significant amount ofvoluntary support from its citizens in defense related activities that do not show up in budgetfigures. This includes the tens of thousands of Swiss servicemen who take part in voluntary riflecompetitions, ski maneuvers, and cross-country marches, etc., which they do without pay.[56]Swiss defense forces are equipped with modern weapons of either Swiss design and manufactureor those purchased from other Western countries.U.S. security assistance for Switzerland provides the basis for the upgrade and modernizationof Switzerland's air defense artillery and anti-armor forces. Prospective FMS cash or commercialsales include: M-109 howitzers; Sidewinder, Stinger, and TOW missile systems; an anti-tankhelicopter, such as the AH-IS, 500 MD, or S-76; a transport helicopter such as the UH-60; andpossibly the Patriot air defense system.Switzerland is a democratic country subscribing to many of the same ideals to which theUnited States is devoted. It is a stable, prosperous country occupying an important strategicposition in Central Europe. It is in the best interest of the United States and Western Europe thatSwitzerland continue to have the necessary military strength to safeguard her independence andneutrality
