Interest in building submarines for Poland is growing, and the media has picked up a statement by a rear admiral about the “elite club” of countries that operate such a fleet. The basis is the decisions of the Ministry of National Defence (MON) under the Orka programme.
What MON chose
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced at the end of November 2025, during the Navy Day celebrations on Friday, 28 November, that Sweden’s Saab, with its A26 submarine, had won the Orka programme. As Gospodarka Morska describes, the Navy is to receive three units, the first of which is to arrive in Poland by 2030. An interim solution had also been planned earlier.
A long-standing gap
According to Dziennik Bałtycki, the decision came 28 years after earlier attempts to renew the submarine fleet, and the tender was one of the most hotly contested in the history of the Polish Navy. The paper quotes a reserve rear admiral who says Poland must build its own underwater combat capabilities.
The agreement
According to headlines from TVN24 and the Obserwator Gospodarczy service from late June 2026, the agreement with Sweden for A26 submarines has been signed. Contract details, including value and delivery schedule, were not verified in the MON statement, so we do not provide them here.
What it means
For Poland, this means a return to full submarine capability in the Baltic. However, the first new submarine is not expected to enter service until around 2030, so the interim vessel will be key until then. As of publication, there has been no confirmed new statement from MON or the Navy on this matter.
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