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Drones: Industry & Defence
26OCT

Kongsberg to make SAN systems in Poland

2 min read
15:07UTC

Norway's Kongsberg will spend more than 200m zlotys on a Pomeranian plant to build counter-drone systems for Poland's SAN programme, with series output from 2028.

← Back to China puts drone-part exports under licenceJump to analysis ↓
TechnologyAssessed
Key takeaway

Kongsberg will build SAN counter-drone systems in Pomerania, with series output due from 2028.

Kongsberg of Norway said on 13 October it will invest more than 200m zlotys (about €45m) in a counter-drone plant near the Tri-City (Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot) in Pomerania, Poland⁠1. The plant will build and maintain counter-drone systems for Poland's SAN programme and employ more than 100 people. A construction contract is due by the end of 2026, and series output could start in the first half of 2028⁠2.

SAN, Poland's national counter-drone air-defence programme, is worth about 15bn zlotys (about €3.4bn) and is largely financed by Poland's loans under the EU's Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defence instrument, according to Defense News⁠3. Kongsberg won the programme in January with PGZ, Poland's state arms group, and APS, a Polish defence-electronics firm⁠4. SAFE sits beside the EU's other new defence fund, EDIP, which named its first five Defence Projects of Common Interest in September.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Poland is buying a national system to protect against drones, called SAN. It combines guns, missiles and interceptor drones in mobile batteries. Kongsberg, a Norwegian arms maker that won the contract with two Polish companies, will build a factory in northern Poland to make and repair parts of the system. Much of the money comes from loans that the European Union offers member states for defence, which favour weapons made in Europe.

Deep Analysis
Root Causes

Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace in September 2025, and Poland signed SAN, a national programme, on 30 January 2026. No source links the two directly. SAN's size makes a dedicated plant worth building.

The EU's Security Action for Europe loans favour European production. Building in Pomerania helps Kongsberg, a non-EU company from Norway, show that its work stays inside the EU and inside the buyer's own economy.

What could happen next?
  • Consequence

    Polish industry gains maintenance work on SAN batteries from 2028.

    Medium term · Reported
  • Meaning

    SAFE financing is turning foreign defence orders into factories inside the buying state.

    Medium term · Assessed
  • Risk

    The SAN battery delivery schedule against the 2028 plant start is unpublished.

    Short term · Assessed
Sources:Grosswald·Defense News
Mentions:Kongsberg →Poland →SAFE →PGZ →APS →Norway →European Union →Defense News →Grosswald →Eirik Lie →Warsaw →Pomerania →SAN counter-drone programme →Gdansk →K9 Thunder →European Defence Projects of Common Interest →Hyundai Rotem →
First Reported In

Update #19 · China puts drone-part exports under licence

Grosswald· 26 Oct 2026
Read original →
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The Norwegian group said on 13 October it will invest more than 200m zlotys in a Pomeranian plant to build and maintain SAN counter-drone systems. It expects series output to begin in the first half of 2028.

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.