Poland has reached a deal to acquire five Kobben-class diesel submarines from Norway, paying only a few million for their transfer. Two of the boats will be delivered this year, and others in 2003 and 2004 after they complete their scheduled overhauls. The fifth boat, decommissioned several years ago, will be cannibalized for spare parts. Norway took the Kobben's out of service due to budget cuts and could not find anyone to actually buy them, so they donated them to Poland. The Poles expect to replace the Kobben's with the new Viking-class boats (developed jointly by Norway and Sweden) after 2012.--Stephen V Cole