Poland seals Orka: three A26 submarines for the Polish Navy

After nearly three decades of false starts, the Polish Navy has secured its largest submarine contract in a generation. On 29 June in Gdynia, Poland and Sweden signed a deal for three A26-type submarines under the Orka programme.

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29 june 2026 | 23:18 | Source: Gazeta Morska | Prepared by: Kamil Kusier | Print

fot. Krzysztof Niedziela / MON

The contract was signed at the Gdynia naval base, aboard the frigate ORP Gen. Tadeusz Kościuszko, during Polish–Swedish intergovernmental consultations led by Prime Ministers Donald Tusk and Ulf Kristersson. Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz signed for Poland, alongside Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson.

For Poland's fleet, the moment is a genuine turning point. Known by the codename Orka, the programme had been one of the most frequently deferred modernisation decisions in the Polish Armed Forces. Successive governments promised new submarines; none reached a contract - until Monday.

- Here in Gdynia, at the naval port, the security vectors of Poland and Sweden meet, said Kosiniak-Kamysz. - We are signing the most important agreement for the Polish Navy and one of the most important for the Polish Armed Forces - an agreement on building the capability to operate underwater.

The minister framed the signing as the close of a long road:

- For thirty years the Orka programme had no finale. It has reached one under our government. Many defence ministers, prime ministers and presidents promised this before. Today it becomes our achievement.

What Poland is buying

The deal covers three A26-design submarines - designated the Blekinge class in Sweden - built by Saab Kockums at its shipyard in Karlskrona. The A26 is a modular, next-generation conventional boat with diesel-electric propulsion and an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system, allowing it to remain submerged for many days without surfacing to recharge its batteries. That endurance is one of the defining features of a modern conventional submarine, sharply increasing stealth and survivability.

Crucially for Poland, the A26 was designed for the shallow, acoustically demanding littoral waters that characterise the Baltic. The boats are intended for anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, intelligence and reconnaissance, special-operations support, and the protection of critical seabed infrastructure. The design's flexible payload portal - enabling discreet deployment and recovery of divers and unmanned underwater vehicles - further widens that mission set.

Kosiniak-Kamysz characterised the purchase in distinctly promotional terms, calling the boats "fifth-generation" platforms able to "operate swarms of drones controlled from the submarine" and to support the management of Baltic security infrastructure. It is worth noting that submarine "generations" are not a standardised technical classification in the way they are for combat aircraft; the phrase is best read as political and marketing language rather than a precise technical claim.

Why the fleet needs it

The urgency is straightforward: Poland's submarine arm has all but ceased to exist. Its only remaining boat in service, ORP Orzeł, is a Soviet-built Kilo-class submarine commissioned in 1985, now requiring frequent repairs and nearing the end of its service life. Once it retires, Poland would lose not only a combat capability but the very ability to train submarine crews.

The strategic backdrop is no less pressing. The Baltic has become a primary arena of hybrid confrontation between NATO and Russia, marked by incidents around undersea infrastructure, "shadow fleet" activity and a rising tempo of provocations. A submarine remains one of the most effective deterrents available: hard to detect, able to observe covertly, shadow an adversary's movements and hold its most valuable assets at risk.

Prime Minister Tusk underlined that dimension.

- Sweden is one of the most advanced states in defence and the defence industry, he said. - Despite its relatively recent NATO membership, our cooperation in the Baltic has qualitatively changed the security situation. We are convinced that the Baltic must be a safe place, free of the shadow fleet, provocations and military threats.

Thirty years, and the rivals it beat

The directional decision came last autumn. On 28 November 2025 Poland's Council of Ministers adopted the recommendation to acquire three submarines from Sweden, judged the only offer to fully meet the Navy's requirements. The Swedish bid beat proposals from Italy, France, Spain, Germany and South Korea, among others.

The choice is not without risk, and the trade press has been candid about it. The A26 programme has run significantly late - the first boats are still being built for the Swedish Navy — and over more than a decade of work, the cost of Sweden's own units has roughly doubled. That is an important caveat for assessing both the schedule and the budget of Poland's purchase.

Money and timeline

The Defence Ministry's statement gave no figures, but the surrounding details point to one of Poland's largest-ever arms contracts. The agreement for the three boats, together with weapons, logistics and training packages, is worth close to 47 billion Swedish kronor - about 18.2 billion złoty, or roughly €4.3 billion. Kristersson, referring to the wider cooperation, spoke of an order of magnitude of around 50 billion kronor. Earlier, cautious estimates of the programme alone ran to about 20 billion złoty.

The schedule is drawing the most scrutiny. Earlier ministry signals pointed to delivery of the first boat by 2030. On Monday, however, the Armament Agency presented a revised timeline: delivery of the first unit beginning in 2031 and completing in 2032, with all deliveries scheduled by 2038, a real slip from the date previously communicated.

To avoid leaving the fleet without any platform in the interim, an interim solution is planned. Sweden will lease Poland a used, deeply modernised A17S-type boat - HMS Södermanland - for more than 700 million złoty. The submarine, which could arrive in Poland as early as next year, will primarily allow crew training to begin before the new A26s enter service.

A stage, not a finale

Both sides stressed that Orka marks a beginning rather than an end. "We have ambitious plans for this great Orka project to be merely a stage, not the finale of our cooperation," Tusk said. For the Polish Navy, it is above all a chance to rebuild a capability it had effectively lost: for the first time in four decades, Polish sailors are set to receive submarines straight from the shipyard, rather than boats with long prior service in foreign fleets.

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Kamil Kusier
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