The NATO member, a staunch ally of neighbour Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion, intends to buy between two and three submarines for its navy.

The country has long planned to replace its single, ageing Soviet-era sub but has reconfigured its needs since Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Several shipbuilders have reportedly submitted tenders, including two from South Korea and one each from France, Spain, Germany, Sweden and Italy.

According to Polish media, the frontrunners are Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, Sweden's Saab and Italy's Fincantieri.

"This year, we will select the country with which we wish to conclude this agreement," Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told reporters.

Poland, which neighbours the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, has one Soviet-era sub to protect its Baltic Sea coastline.

NATO vessels in the Baltic have been kept busy in recent months investigating apparent attacks on undersea cables and pipelines and tracking Russia's spy ships and "ghost fleet" of sanctions-busting tankers.

The sea, Kosiniak-Kamysz said, has become "a very important location for operations", citing "disruptions of GPS system functionality, airspace violations by Russia and energy cable ruptures".

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