Poland chooses Sweden’s Saab to supply it with three submarines

WARSAW: Poland said on Wednesday (Nov 26) it had chosen Sweden’s Saab to supply it with three submarines, in a multi-billion-dollar deal that forms a key element of Warsaw’s efforts to bolster its defences in the Baltic Sea.

Warsaw has been ramping up investments in the armed forces to counter what it sees as a growing threat from Russia after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The deal under the “Orka” programme to boost Poland’s military is one of the biggest so far among a raft of purchases.

“Sweden presented the best offer in terms of all criteria, delivery time, and operational capability, especially in the Baltic Sea,” Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told a press conference.

He estimated the value of the deal at around 10 billion zlotys (US$2.73 billion), and said Sweden had committed to buy some armaments from Poland as part of a wider cooperation agreement, and to provide a “gap-filler” submarine for the Polish army to train on.

Kosiniak-Kamysz said he would like the commercial deal concluded no later than the second quarter of 2026 and he expected the first delivery in 2030.