Swedish defense company Saab is promoting its Blekinge-class A26 submarine, calling it the world’s first fifth-generation battle submarine. The platform represents Saab’s most advanced undersea design to date, engineered for modern multi-domain naval missions.
The A26 is built to operate at significant depths and can conduct a wide range of undersea operations. Its modular payload system allows the deployment of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), specialized swimmer delivery craft, and an array of weapons, sensors, and ISR tools for long-range reconnaissance and covert missions.
Designed for stealth in high-threat waters, the A26 features an “extremely low” acoustic signature, enabling it to navigate through dense sonar environments such as the Baltic Sea. Saab states that the submarine can function as a silent surveillance asset, maintaining near-complete invisibility while monitoring adversary activity.
With its blend of deep-diving capability, unmanned systems integration, and advanced stealth architecture, the A26 positions itself as one of the most modern and flexible attack submarines on the global market.
