Poland’s largest defence consortium, PGZ Group, has formally teamed with Saab in a partnership that will see them explore how to best produce and market Saab’s XLUUV.
The new Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) also takes in plans to establish an Underwater Technology Centre in Poland, to potentially develop a new heavyweight torpedo, and to work together on service and lifecycle support of both surface vessels and submarines.
Poland has selected Saab’s next-generation A26 Blekinge-class submarines for its PLN 2 billion, three-boat Orka programme.
There is also an intention for the two firms to pursue export sales for both surface and underwater platforms, including rescue vessels.
One of those platforms will be Saab’s Autonomous Ocean Drone XLUUV, designed to be deployed either pier-side or from compatible submarines such as the A26.
The seven-metre battery-powered drone weighs about 6.5 tonnes, cruises at 4 knots, and has a range in excess of 600 nautical miles. Navigation and control are handled by Saab’s Autonomous Ocean Core AI suite.
It’s configured for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, target classification and tracking, installation of seabed ISR cables and other payloads such as special forces equipment, and protection of critical undersea infrastructure (CUI).
Future development lines also include combat capabilities such as torpedo launch.
President and CEO of Saab Micael Johansson said of the new SCA: “I am pleased to have signed this agreement today with PGZ and to see the speed at which our cooperation is advancing.
“This agreement reflects a strong commitment to a deepening partnership between Polish and Swedish industry, while also contributing to enhanced security in the Baltic Sea and NATO’s eastern flank.”
And PGZ’s CEO Adam Leszkiewicz added: “Signing this strategic agreement with Saab confirms that the naval and underwater domain is becoming a key pillar of Polish–Swedish cooperation, both from a security and an industrial perspective.
“For the PGZ Group, this partnership represents an important step in strengthening maritime capabilities in Poland, integrating into global supply chains, and building long term business value together with one of the leading defence companies.”
- You can read more details on the Saab website and the PGZ website