Polish

Poland’s next submarines will be provided by Sweden, in the shape of the advanced A26 class. Under the long-running Orka acquisition program, Warsaw announced today that it will buy three of the boats, which use an air-independent propulsion system, to replace the Polish Navy’s single Soviet-era Kilo class submarine. The new multirole subs will be able to launch and recover uncrewed underwater vessels (UUVs), as well as be used for minelaying, intelligence collection, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and more.

The Saab design was chosen in favor of competing offers from France’s Naval Group, Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, Italy’s Fincantieri, South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean, and Spain’s Navantia.

“We are honored to have been selected and look forward to the coming negotiations with the Armaments Agency in Poland,” said Micael Johansson, president and CEO of Saab, in a statement announcing the order today.

“The Swedish offer, featuring submarines tailored for the Baltic Sea, is the right choice for the Polish people. It will significantly enhance the operational capability of the Polish Navy and benefit the Polish economy,” Johansson added.

The Swedish offer was made by the country’s government on behalf of Saab. At this point, no contract has been signed, but Saab and the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) will now complete the procurement process together with Polish authorities.

Statements on Poland’s selection of the A26 were also provided by the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, and Pål Jonson, the Swedish Minister of Defense:

Poland has chosen Sweden as partner for its submarine program.

This shows the strength not only of the cooperation between our countries, but also of Sweden as a defense-industry nation. It is confirmation that the Swedish defense industry stands strong. Saab has a… pic.twitter.com/WhSFlQru7n

— Ulf Kristersson (@SwedishPM) November 26, 2025

🇵🇱🇸🇪Today is a historic day for the Swedish-Polish partnership and for increased security in the Baltic Sea. Poland has selected Swedish submarines for the Polish navy. This will strengthen our common defence, security, and defence industrial base. pic.twitter.com/2WjiSu8o5L

— Pål Jonson (@PlJonson) November 26, 2025

Saab says that the deal will include industrial cooperation with Poland as well as technological transfer, as part of a broader strategic partnership between the two countries. For Sweden, the first export customer for this promising design provides a significant boost to the program, at a time when delays and cost overruns mean it’s much-needed. A total of five boats increases the demand for in-service support, and the Polish seal of approval could open the door to more exports.

Although it has been reported that the three submarines will cost $2.52 billion, it remains unclear when they might be delivered.

The A26 uses air-independent propulsion (AIP), a technology that The War Zone has examined in detail in the past. Specifically, as well as diesel engines, this employs a Stirling-type engine as previously used in the influential Swedish Gotland class design. The Stirling auxiliary engine burns liquid oxygen and diesel to drive electrical generators that can be used for either propulsion or charging the batteries. The result is a conventionally powered submarine that’s able to remain submerged for reportedly more than 18 days, without needing to surface or use a snorkel.

The A26 has the option of being fitted with vertical launch system (VLS) cells, compatible with Tomahawk land attack missiles, which might be of interest to Poland as it seeks to reinforce its long-range strike capabilities.

Another notable feature of the A26 design is its sail, which is raked along its leading edge and which flares out toward the top. As we have discussed in the past, this feature is understood to have been chosen to increase its stealth characteristics. The A26 also features an X-form rudder. As we have discussed in the past, this configuration provides improved maneuverability, efficiency, and safety, and also helps reduce the acoustic signature across significant parts of the submarine’s operating envelope compared to the more traditional cruciform system.

Other details of the A26 design include a length of around 217 feet and a surfaced displacement of 2,122 tons. The submarine has a standard complement of just 26 sailors but can also accommodate up to 35 more, including commandos for special forces missions. The commandos can be delivered via the Multi-Mission Portal, similar to an oversized torpedo tube, which provides access to a flexible payload lock.

The A26 is also being built for the Royal Swedish Navy, with two Blekinge class boats under construction at Saab’s Kockums shipyard in Karlskrona. Originally planned to be handed over in 2024 and 2025, it recently emerged that delays would push the delivery of the first of these boats to 2031, while increasing costs will see the program reach a price tag of 2.3 billion Euros (around $2.7 billion). The second Swedish submarine is scheduled to be delivered in 2033. Between them, the new boats will replace the Royal Swedish Navy’s two Södermanland class submarines.

Buying three advanced submarines marks a major advance for the Polish Navy, which has, for many years, only had a single Project 877E Kilo class submarine, the ORP Orzel, in its fleet. The age of this boat and the impossibility of obtaining spare parts and support from Russia mean that it’s unclear if the Orzel is currently operational.

As Saab’s Johansson pointed out, the Polish Navy will be getting a submarine that has been purpose-designed for the Baltic Sea. Notably shallow and confined, with dense littorals, including complex undersea obstacles and islands, the Baltic imposes very particular requirements on submarine designs, something that has long been reflected in successive classes built in Sweden (as well as in Germany).

In particular, the Baltic environment calls for diesel-electric submarines that are able to transit covertly in areas with a water depth of less than 82 feet and operate in an environment with a potentially high density of anti-submarine warfare forces and naval mines.

Warsaw’s investment in the three new submarines is just one part of a much larger defense spending spree — what the Polish Armed Forces themselves describe as “one of the highest levels of defense spending in NATO.”

The Polish Air Force is gearing up to receive 32 F-35A fighters, which will be armed with long-range precision weapons. Dozens of FA-50 light combat aircraft are also being delivered.

Poland’s first F-35 is on the move! 🏃‍♂️

AZ-01 has been moved to the final finishes facility to receive its stealth coating, bringing it one step closer to rollout.

Poland’s 32 F-35s will strengthen NATO and European allies in the region. pic.twitter.com/N8TqsMHBLG

— F-35 Lightning II (@thef35) July 31, 2024

Within the air defense branch, Poland plans by 2032 to introduce new air and missile defense systems procured under the Narew and Wisła programs, which cover the short-range and medium-range air defense segments, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Polish Land Forces are getting 250 of the latest Abrams M1A2 SEPv3 tanks, worth up to $6 billion, that will serve alongside a similar number of German-made Leopard 2s already in use. The Land Forces also expect to benefit from additional investments in operational fires, including new tube and rocket artillery, which will be employed in combination with 96 new AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. Furthermore, a significant South Korean arms package includes tanks, short-range ballistic missiles, and self-propelled artillery, as well as the aforementioned FA-50s.

Alongside the new submarines, Polish naval capabilities are also being reinforced by new coastal missile units and mine warfare technologies.

All of this military buildup comes in direct response to Russian aggression against Ukraine, which has provided Poland with a salutory reminder of the importance of robust defenses. With its choice of the A26 class, Poland will be getting one of the most capable conventionally powered submarines available and making another statement about how strongly it takes its defense.

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Polish authorities have accused Russia of rail sabotage attacks over the weekend, while arresting two Ukrainian men said to be responsible for the incidents. Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said these attacks constituted “perhaps the most serious — when it comes to the security of the Polish state — incidents since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine” in February 2022. If verified, this would be the latest example of Russian hybrid warfare, which, as you can read about here, is just below the threshold of armed conflict. In this context, it’s a means of creating disruption and sowing fear, but, so long as it uses proxies to achieve its aims, it remains very hard for such activities to be directly traced back to the Kremlin.

The main incident occurred on Sunday in the village of Mika, in the Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland, and involved the use of a military-grade C-4 plastic explosive that was supposed to blow up a train. The explosives were to be detonated via a 300-meter (328-yard) cable.

The explosive went off under a freight train, which suffered minor damage to its undercarriage, but more serious damage was inflicted on the tracks. The next train had already been warned about the problem and was able to stop in time.

Tusk said that “a certain line has been crossed,” since the incident could have been much worse if it weren’t for undisclosed errors made in the execution of the attack by the perpetrators.

A second incident occurred further down the same railway line on Sunday, where a busy train was forced to stop suddenly. This is considered likely another case of sabotage, though not involving an explosion.

Speaking in the Polish parliament, Tusk said today that the rail sabotage incidents were “unprecedented” and warned of “escalation” by Russian intelligence services. The Polish prime minister said these activities aimed to sow chaos across Europe and to foster opposition to governments’ support for Ukraine. They also aimed to hamper the delivery of arms and other aid to Ukraine by targeting train lines connecting the two countries.

Tusk said that Polish authorities receive dozens of alerts each day, not all of which are genuine, increasing the burden on the services investigating them.

“These acts of sabotage and the actions of Russian services across the whole of Europe, not only in Poland, are unfortunately gaining momentum,” Tusk told lawmakers.

Tusk claimed that the Kremlin is interested “not only in the direct effect of this type of actions, but also the social and political consequences,” including spreading “disorganization, chaos, panic, speculation, uncertainty,” and “the stirring up of possibly radically anti-Ukrainian sentiments.”

“This is particularly dangerous in countries like Poland, where we have enough burdens that we bear due to over a million Ukrainian refugees in Poland,” Tusk added.

Poland today identified two Ukrainian men who it says were the main suspects behind the sabotage incidents. Authorities in Warsaw said the perpetrators are thought to be working for the Russian intelligence services, who organized their crossing into Poland from Belarus this fall. After the attack, the two men are said to have fled to Belarus.

If the accused are the perpetrators, this would fit with the pattern of Moscow’s use of so-called ‘disposable agents’. These individuals are recruited, often online, to undertake specific acts of sabotage. Often paid in cryptocurrency, they may well be unaware that their masters are in Russian intelligence. In this way, sabotage campaigns can be orchestrated from Russia, with no need to put its own agents into the field. Ukrainians, Belarusians, and other nationalities have been recruited for such activities. In this case, Tusk said that the use of Ukrainians was deliberate, to help promote anti-Ukrainian feelings in Poland.

Poland has said it will respond to the sabotage attacks by increasing the threat level to protect selected rail routes. Poland will raise the alert level to its third level out of four. However, the rail network elsewhere in the country will remain unchanged, at the second level.

European leaders outside Poland have also responded to the attacks.

In the neighboring Czech Republic, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that the Polish rail sabotage was “extremely alarming.”

In a post on X, Fiala wrote: “Russia is behaving in an openly hostile manner towards us and has long been undermining the security and stability of Europe. We must not be naive or underestimate the risks we are facing. It is our duty to strengthen our defense, invest in security, cooperate with our allies, and be prepared to confront similar attacks.”

Meanwhile, the Kremlin accused Poland of “Russophobia” after its allegations.

“Russia is accused of all manifestations of the hybrid and direct war that is taking place,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a Russian state television reporter. “In Poland, let’s say, everyone is trying to run ahead of the European locomotive in this regard. And Russophobia, of course, is flourishing there,” he said.

Bordering Poland, Ukraine, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, Poland has been very much on the frontline of the hybrid war being waged by Russia alongside its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

According to Tusk, Poland has faced multiple sabotage incidents in recent years, resulting in 55 people being detained. However, there is, by now, a broader pattern of attacks, with other acts of Russian sabotage in Europe, including in Moldova, Romania, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

Poland has experienced a series of major arson and sabotage attacks in recent years, including parcel bombings, which it sees as part of Moscow’s hybrid war on the West.

In September, Russian drone incursions into Polish airspace were deemed deliberate by Poland, which claimed they were a calculated test of NATO’s ability to react to aerial threats. Polish authorities said 19 Russian drones entered the country’s airspace, with some of them being shot down by Polish and Dutch combat aircraft. You can catch up to our reporting on the incident in our story here.