RBS 15

The Swedish Navy earlier made the RB 08 anti-ship missiles with the Halland-class destroyers in the early 1960s. The main effect of Sweden's defence resolution of 1958 for the Swedish navy was restructuring into a lighter force consisting of fast attack craft (FAC) vessels - mainly the Norrköping-class missile boat - and a halt to destroyer procurement. This posed a problem as the existing RB 08 missile required launch rails and a missile magazine in the destroyers, taking up space that was not available in smaller ships. Adding to the problems, each missile had to be individually prepared for launch and only two missiles could be on the launch rails at the same time. In comparison, the P-15 Termit (NATO codename Styx) missile used by the Soviet Union from the late 1950s (which was the expected adversary of RBS 15) stored the missiles in individual containers on deck with the missiles immediately available for launch. Tests were carried out on Plejad class FACs with a single bow-mounted RB 08 in the late 1960s, but they came to nothing.

Saab's next attempt at anti-ship missiles to equip the FACs of the Swedish navy was in 1978 under the project name "RB 04 Turbo", a development of the air force RB 04E missile with a turbofan engine, changed wing configuration and start rockets to take off from land, while the front of the missile was retained, including the warhead. The initial proposal was rejected as inferior to the Harpoon missile. The project, under the leadership of Hans Ahlinder, was then reworked into a missile with improved capabilities to surpass than the Harpoon. To indicate that it was a new weapon, the name was changed to "RBS 15".^[3]

The first weapon contract was signed in 1979; at the last minute the Swedish government did not buy the Harpoon anti-ship missile, opting for an indigenous design. The RBS 15 underwent trials on the missile FAC HSwMS Piteå from 1983, the first missiles were delivered to the Navy in June 1984, and became operational with the Swedish Navy in 1985 as the RBS 15 Mk. I. The Västergötland-class submarines were to have four vertical missile launch tubes for RBS 15 missiles in an extended hull, canceled due to budget constraints and to not fitting the way Swedish submarines operated.

The Swedish Navy ordered the missile in 1984 to develop a coastal defense version of the RBS 15F. The missile was taken into Swedish Navy service as the 'Rb 15 by the Swedish Navy and became operational in 1985. The Swedish Air Force received their missiles a couple of years later. The original RBS 15 Mk. I was produced from 1985 to 1990.

Work on a further developed version, the RBS 15 Mk. II, began in the early 1980s, but it took until 1994 to get a development contract for the upgraded anti-ship missile. The Mk. II has the same range (70+ km), but the mid-course and terminal guidance system, as well as the radar and IR signature were upgraded. The Mk. II has been produced since 1998.

Development of the RBS 15 Mk. III began in the mid-1990s. It is produced by Saab in co-operation with Diehl Defence of Germany.^[4] Emphasis was put on increased range (due to larger fuel capacity and new fuel the range has been increased to some 200 km), improved accuracy (integrated GPS) and selectable priority targeting, which improved the weapon system's flexibility. The Mk. III was selected for the German Navy's Braunschweig-class corvettes. Finnish truck maker Sisu produces missile launch trucks for RBS 15. The Mk. III has been in production since 2004.

In March 2017 Saab received an order for a new generation anti-ship missile to replace the RBS 15, valued at 3.2 billion SEK.^[5] The following year, SAAB unveiled the RBS 15 Mk. IV Gungnir, again produced with Diehl. Unlike Mk. III, the Mk. IV Gungnir can be fired from a truck, making it capable of launching from air, sea, or land.^[6] Gungnir missiles have been ordered for the Swedish Navy, with the first weapons scheduled for delivery in the mid-2020s.^[7]

The RBS15 exists in various generations, and each generation has various launch platform options.^[8]

RBS15 - third generation

Variants of the third generation:^[16]

• Ship launched: RBS15 Mk3^[15]
• Coastal defence: RBS-15 SF-3
  • MTO 85M (Meritorjuntaohjus 1985M, Finland), modernised variant of the coastal defence system, equipped with the RBS-15 SF-3 missile. They use new missile and refurbished Mk2 missiles.^[17]
  • Saab CDMS (Coastal Defence Missile System), using the same missile as the ship-launched RBS15 Mk3, and will be able to launch the future RBS15 generation.^[18][15]

Design:

• Propulsion:
  • Turbojet engine: Microturbo TRI 60-5,^[10] with a 4.4 kN (990 lbf) thrust.
  • 2 × solid-fuel rocket boosters (for surface launched variants)

RBS15 - fourth generation

Variants of the fourth generation known as the RBS15 Gungnir :^{[16][19][20][21]}

• Air-launched: RBS15 Mk4 Air (known as RBS-15 ER in the Swedish Air Force), a missile in development as of 2026, to be launched from JAS-39 Gripen C/D, JAS-39 Gripen E/F, Saab Swordfish and other maritime patrol aircraft.^[22][15][20]
• Ship launched: RBS15 Mk4 Gungnir^[16][22]
• Coastal defence: Saab CDMS (Coastal Defence Missile System), using the same missile as the ship-launched RBS15 Mk4 gungnir ^[18]

• AGM-158C LRASM – (United States)
• ASM-3 – (Japan)
• Babur – (Pakistan)
• Blue Spear – (Israel)
• Exocet – (France)
• Harpoon – (United States)
• Kh-35 – (Russia)
• Naval Strike Missile – (Norway)
• R-360 Neptune – (Ukraine)
• Otomat – (Italy, France)
• NASM-MR – (India)
• Sea Eagle – (United Kingdom)
• Type 80 air-to-ship missile – (Japan)
• Type 88 surface-to-ship missile – (Japan)
• Type 90 ship-to-ship missile – (Japan)
• Type 93 air-to-ship missile – (Japan)
• YJ-83 – (China)