Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that all bids have been reviewed and that the government will decide “who will be our final partner in this programme” by the end of the year.
Szłapka called the submarines “a very important programme” for Baltic Sea security and said the process will seek the best fit for military needs and for Poland’s industry, including technology transfer.
He added that no bid is being favored and all are assessed under the same rules.
Szłapka explained that, given the scale, the contract is expected to take the form of an intergovernmental agreement rather than a standard purchase from a manufacturer. Further updates will be provided by the defence ministry.
According to Poland’s Armaments Agency, which handles procurement for the armed forces, three offers have received the highest evaluations so far: Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, Sweden’s Saab and Italy’s Fincantieri.
In recent months Deputy Defence Minister Paweł Bejda and a delegation visited shipyards in those countries.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, speaking on Wednesday at military exercises near Orzysz in the northern Warmia-Masuria region, said the government “will see the program through and sign the contracts.”
Orka, which foresees the purchase of several, most likely three, new submarines for the Polish Navy, has been in development for years and is considered one of the service’s most urgent modernization efforts.
The navy currently operates one aging boat, ORP Orzeł, built in the Soviet Union in 1985. ORP is the Polish Navy prefix and stands for “Ship of the Republic of Poland.
Frequent repairs have kept the vessel in service, and officials warn that if it is retired before replacements arrive, there will be no platform on which to train submarine crews or maintain undersea skills.
(rt)
Source: IAR, PAP