HMS Orion (A201) is a signals intelligence gathering vessel in the Swedish Navy

Swedish Navy

The Royal Swedish Navy is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet – as well as marine units, the so-called Amphibious Corps .In Swedish, vessels of the Swedish Navy are given the prefix "HMS," short for Hans/Hennes...

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HMS Orion was first launched in 1984. She was built with extensive support from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 National Security Agency

National Security Agency

The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...

. In November 1985 HMS Orion was rammed by a Soviet

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

 minesweeper

Minesweeper (ship)

A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

, after she got too close to a Soviet naval exercise. In 1998 Orion received a false bomb threat, which was widely covered in the Swedish newspapers. The ship is manned by conscripts, Swedish Navy officers and personnel from the FRA (the Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment

Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment

The National Defence Radio Establishment is a civilian establishment subordinate to the Ministry of Defence. The two main tasks of FRA are signals intelligence and support to government authorities and state owned companies regarding IT security.Interception of signals is done from fixed sites on...

. HMS Orion belongs to the 1st Submarine division.
Orion also shares the hull with Fiskeriverkets vessel Argos an official fishing control vesel.

Replacement

On the 22nd. of April 2010 the government of Sweden approved the acquisition of a new ship to replace HMS Orion since it no longer meets current sea safety rules.