Poland finds space for submarines on its defence shopping list
Poland currently fields a solitary Kilo-class submarine, ORP Orzel. (Photo: Polish MoD)
Poland will kick off proceedings for the purchase of new submarines later this year under Warsaw’s Orka project, the country’s Defence Minister has confirmed.
Speaking at the Defence24 defence industry conference on 24 May, Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said: ‘We are starting to implement the Orka programme. Later this year, we plan to launch proceedings aimed at the purchase of submarines along with the transfer of necessary technologies that we want to obtain through an offset order.’
The Polish Navy currently only fields one submarine, a Soviet-era Kilo-class boat, ORP Orzeł.
Orzel was left as the sole survivor of the fleet following the retirement of ORP Sep and ORP Bielik as a formality in 2021 – both had already been reduced
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