Eight offers have been submitted for the technical dialogue to supply three submarines to the Polish Navy. The defense companies include foreign and Polish entities, according to a statement obtained from the Ministry of Defense by local news site Defence24.pl.
The bidders include France’s DCNS and Thales, Spanish shipbuilder Navantia, Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, a consortium of Sweden’s state-run defense procurement agency Försvarets Materielverk and Kockums shipyard, Poland’s defense company Kenbit, Sweden’s Saab, and Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.
In addition, the ministry’s Armament Inspectorate reserves “the right to invite other entities which did not reply to the call to participate in the [dialogue],” the statement said.
Local media have reported that the submarine procurement is estimated to be worth at least 7.5 billion zloty (US $2.44 billion).
The ministry is aiming to acquire two new submarines by 2022, and a further one by 2030 as part of its Navy modernization program. The Polish Navy has one Kilo-class submarine and four Kobben-class submarines in its fleet. The latter four were acquired from Norway and are expected to be withdrawn from service by 2015. ■