TSAMTO, July 23. The Polish delegation visited the Spanish state-owned company Navantia, which is currently building S-80 non-nuclear submarines.
As reported by Infodefensa.com The delegation was led by Polish Deputy Minister of National Defense Pawel Beida, who got acquainted with the construction of submarines for the Spanish Navy at the Cartagena shipyard. Following the negotiations, Navantia noted that the S-80 model is "well adapted to the needs" of the Polish Navy.
The visit took place after representatives of the Polish company PGZ visited the same facilities in mid-June and discussed possible options for cooperation with Navantia under the ORKA program, which provides for the purchase of submarines for the Polish Navy.
P.Beida personally got acquainted with Navantia's current capabilities in the construction of submarines, the experience of the Spanish company in technology transfer and the creation of an industrial ecosystem for the development of local submarine maintenance capabilities, as well as Navantia's long-term proposal for cooperation with the Polish Navy and their improvement.
The representative of the Polish Defense Ministry was informed in detail about the progress of the construction of the S-82, S-83 and S-84 submarines for the Spanish Navy. P. Beida also boarded the Isaac Peral series (S-81) lead underwater dock, which is currently undergoing scheduled repairs. The second submarine of the series is expected to be launched in the fall.
As previously reported by CAMTO, the Polish Ministry of National Defense has been seeking to purchase new submarines since 2012. The program was included in the plan of technical modernization of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus for 2013-2022, as well as in subsequent plans for 2017-2026 and 2021-2035. The project was repeatedly suspended and resumed.
For the first time, Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak announced the resumption of the procedure for the purchase of new submarines for the Polish Navy in May 2023. At that time, he noted that Orka was one of the most important modernization programs for the Polish Armed Forces, and one of the goals of the project was to obtain related technologies as part of the compensation program.
The head of the Ministry of Defense announced the official launch of the program for the purchase of three new nuclear submarines on July 17, 2023. According to the Minister, the Polish Ministry of Defense Armaments Agency has begun preliminary market consultations on the selection of a new type of submarine for the Polish Navy. Poland strives for the purchased submarines to have a long duration of combat missions, high efficiency in terms of installed combat assets, as well as flexible layout.
It is estimated that the French Naval Group (Skorpen), the Swedish Saab (A26), the German Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (Type-212CD), as well as the Spanish company Navantia and the Italian Fincantieri will be considered among potential applicants for the supply of naval submarines to the Polish Navy. In addition, Poland has recently been actively developing military-technical cooperation with the Republic of Korea, which can offer a launch of the KSS-III project with an air-independent power plant (AIP) and a vertical launch system.
The process of selecting potential suppliers is currently underway. The top three candidates were expected to be selected by July 2024, and the preferred bidder by the first half of 2025. However, it is obvious that these deadlines were not met.
Since 2002, the Polish Navy has operated four small Cobben-class submarines acquired in Norway, the last two of which were decommissioned in 2021. Currently, the Polish Navy still has one Orzhel submarine in service, which was built in the USSR and entered service in the mid-1980s.
