Poland awards $4.8 billion A26 submarine deal to Saab

WARSAW, Poland - The Polish Ministry of National Defence has signed a contract with Sweden’s Saab to purchase three A26-type submarines for the country’s Navy.

In a statement, Saab said that the contract’s value corresponds to around SEK 47 billion ($4.8 billion), and deliveries are scheduled to be completed during 2038. Saab has also committed to developing maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) capabilities in Poland in close partnership with the country’s industry.

The deal was signed on June 29 in Gdynia, a city on the Polish Baltic Sea coast where a large part of the Navy’s fleet is stationed, in the presence of Poland’s and Sweden’s prime ministers and defense ministers.

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland’s deputy prime minister and national defense minister, who took part in the official signing ceremony, said that the new submarines will carry drone swarms that will be used to safeguard the nation’s critical infrastructure and shoreline.

“Poland is acquiring, under the deal that was signed a moment ago, three fifth-generation A26-type submarines. These are the most advanced submarines designed for operations in the Baltic Sea, capable of carrying out missions both for the Navy and for special operations forces,” Kosiniak-Kamysz was quoted as saying in a statement released by the ministry. “They will be able to deploy swarms of drones controlled from aboard the submarine and support the management and protection of the Baltic Sea’s security infrastructure and architecture.”

Under a separate deal, Poland aims to urgently acquire a “gap filler” boat for its Baltic Sea operations that will be used to train its sailors. Swedish submarine HMS Södermanland is to be procured for that role, according to officials.

The past months have brought a series of contracts that Warsaw has signed to modernize and expand the operational capabilities of the Navy which had traditionally been the most underinvested branch of the Polish military.

Most recently, the ministry awarded a deal to U.S. defense technology firm Shield AI to purchase its V-BAT drone for the naval forces.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.