The keel laying ceremony for the first of two new Polish signals intelligence ships (SIGINT) was held at Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. in Gdansk, Poland, July 27.
The keel laying ceremony was attended by representatives from Saab, the Polish Armament Agency, the Polish Navy, Remontowa Holding, and invited guests.
On November 25, 2022, Saab secured the contract to design and produce two SIGINT vessels for the Polish Navy, encompassing the integration of mission systems, with Remontowa Shipbuilding SA, a Polish enterprise, chosen as the local subcontractor responsible for constructing the vessels.
Also referred to as a spy ship, a SIGINT ship is used to support the acquisition of intelligence data across the full spectrum of naval intelligence capabilities.
“Naval intelligence ship systems are advanced platforms that need to be highly reliable and available. The keel laying ceremony today is an important milestone in the shipbuilding process and we appreciate the cooperation with our Polish customer the Armament Agency, the Polish Navy and our partner in this project Remontowa Holding,” said Mats Wicksell Senior Vice President and head of Saab’s business area Kockums.
Poland ordered the ships after Saab completed the construction of a SIGINT ship for the Swedish Navy. Poland was involved in the construction of that ship too, as its hull was built by the Nauta Shiprepair Yard in Poland before it was transferred to Sweden for the installation of special SIGINT systems.
The contract is worth 630 million euros and is expected to see Saab deliver the two units by 2027.
In line with their ongoing commitment to substantial military investment, Poland’s Ministry of National Defense placed an order for two Saab 340 Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft just two days ago.
