Poland has finalized a nearly $5 billion contract to buy three Swedish built submarines, advancing its ongoing effort to strengthen national defense and reinforce NATO security in the High North. The agreement for the diesel electric Saab A26 submarines was signed aboard a Polish Navy frigate in the Baltic port of Gdynia during talks between Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, according to national broadcaster Polskie Radio.
“A strong Polish submarine force strengthens security in our shared Baltic Sea and across NATO as a whole,” Kristersson wrote on social media. “When Sweden and Poland share the most advanced capabilities in the Baltic Sea, our part of the world becomes safer.” The first submarine is scheduled for delivery in 2030, with the remaining two arriving in subsequent years, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).
The purchase follows the May 2026 delivery of the first three of 32 F 35A Lightning II fighters bought from the United States. Poland’s defense minister has indicated that Warsaw intends to buy more of the warplanes, Breaking Defense reported.
Poland occupies a strategically important position on the Baltic Sea and along NATO’s eastern flank, where member states are working to reinforce their borders against potential Russian aggression. Poland maintains an 800 kilometer fortified border with both Belarus — Russia’s close ally — and Russia’s heavily militarized Kaliningrad enclave. In June 2026, Latvia’s intelligence service warned that Russia may be “preparing military provocations against the Baltic countries or Poland,” according to a report in The Guardian, a British newspaper.
NATO’s eastern-flank anxieties include potential Russian threats to critical maritime and subsea infrastructure. “We need to act as one in the Baltic Sea, combining our political, security and defense capability to defend European security,” Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard said in November 2025, highlighting Sweden’s partnership with Poland, according to Polskie Radio. In support of the submarine purchase, Saab plans to open maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities in Poland that will be operated in collaboration with Polish companies, DW reported.
The A26 features air independent propulsion, enabling the submarine to remain submerged for extended periods without surfacing to recharge its batteries, according to Polskie Radio. The stealth optimized submarines are specifically designed to meet operational demands in the Baltic Sea, according to Saab.
Poland currently operates only one submarine, an aging Russian built vessel. To bridge the capability gap until 2030, the Polish Navy will receive temporary use of the Swedish submarine HMS Södermanland, according to a June 2026 report by Breaking Defense.
Saab CEO Micael Johansson said the submarines will strengthen the strategic partnership between Poland and Sweden. “The three A26 submarines … will play a pivotal role in enhancing security in the Baltic Sea region,” he said in a news release.