Saturday, April 2, 2016

Poland, Norway mull joint submarine procurement

Jaroslaw Adamowski, DEFENSE NEWS
31 March 2016
WARSAW, POLAND – The Polish Ministry of National Defence is planning to launch a joint procurement with Norway under which Poland’s Navy would acquire three new submarines, and the Norwegian Navy a further six subs, according to Brigade Gen. Adam Duda, the head of the ministry’s Armament Inspectorate. The announcement comes following the signing of a deal on joint naval training activities by the two countries.
“The talks with our Norwegian counterparts regarding a joint submarine acquisition are quite advanced. We have compared our requirements, and they are
compatible,” Duda told Polska Zbrojna, the official magazine of the Polish Armed Forces.
In addition to Norway, Poland's other potential partners for a joint submarine procurement reportedly include the Netherlands.
On March 15, during the official visit to Poland of Rear Adm. Lars Saunes, the inspector general of the Royal Norwegian Navy, the two countries signed an agreement on joint training activities by their navies.
Poland aims to acquire three new submarines to replace its outdated Kobben-class subs, which are to be decommissioned by 2021. The Norwegian government has declared it could provide one submarine to the Polish Navy to help Warsaw maintain its submarine capacity, according to Duda.
The Norwegian and Polish navies both operate the naval strike missile (NSM) systems, which are produced by Norway’s Kongsberg Defence Systems.

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