A26 is the project name of the next generation of submarines developed by Kockums for the Swedish navy. First planned at the beginning of the 1990s, the project was called "U-båt 2000" and was intended to be ready by the late 1990s or early 2000. With the end of the Cold War the naval threat from the Soviet Union disappeared and the new submarine class was deemed unnecessary. The project lay dormant for years until the mid-2000s when the need for a replacement for the Södermanland class submarines became apparent. Originally the Scandinavian countries had intended to collaborate on the Viking class submarine, but Denmark's withdrawal from submarine operations meant that Kockums proceeded on their own.