In case you didn’t know, Sweden’s got a much feared submarine that you’ll never see coming.

By mid summer of 2005 the Gotland arrived in San Diego and war games immediately commenced. Apparently the Navy got more than they were bargaining for when it came to finding and engaging the stealthy little sub. The Gotland virtually “sunk” many US nuclear fast attack subs, destoryers, frigates, cruisers and even made it into the ‘red zone’ beyond the last ring of anti-submarine defenses within a carrier strike group. Although it was rumored she got many simulated shots off on various US super-carriers, one large-scale training exercise in particular with the then brand new USS Ronald Reagan ended with the little sub making multiple attack runs on the super-carrier, before slithering away without ever being detected.

Actually, there are five of these things, quite possibly hunting Russian submarines as we speak. Who knows, perhaps even the almost nonexistant Swedish military’s got some secrets? Oh, and there might be a small dash of hyperbole in this post’s title, but come on, it’s a smeaky sub from Sweden! What’s not to gush about?

Anyway, the Jalopnik Foxtrot Alpha piece covering these stealthy killer machines from my native country was a good read on this very bleak Saturday morning.