Poland & Anduril Sign Deal to Mass-Produce Barracuda-500M Cruise Missiles in Bydgoszcz — First in Europe

Poland's state-owned defense group Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) and US defense technology company Anduril Industries signed a cooperative agreement on July 6, 2026, to establish local production of the Surface-Launched Barracuda-500M (SLB-500M) cruise missile at WZL-2 facilities in Bydgoszcz — making Poland the first country in Europe to host an Anduril missile production line, and one of the continent's first large-scale factories for low-cost, mass-producible cruise missiles.

The signing ceremony was attended by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. 'Poland and the American Anduril Industries are launching strategic cooperation in the production of cruise missiles,' Kosiniak-Kamysz said. 'Together at the WZL-2 facilities in Bydgoszcz, we will produce the Barracuda-500M — a modern cruise missile with a range of 900 km, precise, resistant to electronic warfare, fast, and inexpensive to produce.' The agreement converts a memorandum of understanding signed in October 2025 into an active industrial program.

The Barracuda-500M is a turbojet-powered, autonomous cruise missile Anduril unveiled in September 2024, built explicitly around the philosophy of hyper-scale production rather than exquisite, expensive precision weapons. Anduril says the design philosophy makes the Barracuda roughly 30% cheaper and 50% faster to produce than comparable existing cruise missiles — an economic argument that matters enormously to European militaries watching how quickly Russia has been able to replace its missile stockpiles despite sustained losses in Ukraine. The missile carries a warhead of more than 45 kg and can be launched from ground-based launchers as well as combat and transport aircraft.

The agreement targets production of several thousand SLB-500M systems for the Polish Armed Forces. It builds on a US DoD framework agreement signed in May 2026 committing Anduril to deliver a minimum of 1,000 missiles per year for three years under the Pentagon's Low-Cost Containerized Missiles program, with first deliveries expected in the first half of 2027. Production in Bydgoszcz — known as the NATO Capital of Poland for its concentration of military institutions and defense industries — will initially combine Anduril technology with PGZ manufacturing infrastructure, with localization increasing in phases as more Polish and European components are added. The long-term objective is a majority-European-made Barracuda variant that complies with EU SAFE (Security Action for Europe) industrial requirements.

Anduril VP for Europe Brian Moran described the deal's strategic significance plainly: 'The future of deterrence belongs to nations that can produce advanced capabilities quickly, affordably, and in the quantities required to sustain and win a fight.' The deal arrives as Poland simultaneously signed a $4.83 billion contract with Sweden's Saab on June 29 for three A26 Blekinge-class submarines, ordered nearly 46,000 MSBS GROT assault rifles, and conducted large-scale exercises with Lithuanian and French troops at the Suwalki Gap — cementing its position as NATO's fastest-rearming eastern flank member.