Fleet for the Navy

Six warships are under construction in Polish shipyards. 3 Kormoran II minehunters, 2 SIGINT type radio-electronic reconnaissance ships and a Miecznik-class frigate are being built there. By the end of this year, construction of a rescue ship and another frigate will begin, and the construction of a hydrographic ship is also on the horizon.

In mid-August last year, sheet metal cutting for the first frigate for the Navy, which is being built as part of the Miecznik program, took place. According to theplan, the 3 modern ships will be built at PGZ Stocznia Wojenna in Gdynia, in cooperation with: Crist, Babcock, MBDA, Thales. The first ship, the ORP Wicher, will be launched in 2026. According to the contract, Crist is responsible for the construction of the bow block, and PGZ SW is creating the midship with the engine room and launchers and the stern section. The 70-meter-long block from Crist shipyard is expected to be delivered in December this year, after which all sections will be integrated. In June this year, the cutting and burning of metal sheets for the second frigate ORP Burza is planned.

For this project, construction of a hull and production hall was recently completed at the PGZ SW site. The hull hall is 154 m long, 34 m wide and 46 m high and allows the shipyard to make the construction process independent of weather conditions. The first vessel will be handed over to the Navy in 2029. Another 2 frigates are to enter service in 2030 and 2031.

The Miecznik-class ships are to be based on the British Arrowhead 140 vessels and with a displacement of about 7 thousand tons; they will be the largest Polish combat ships (length is about 138 m, width is about 20 m, draught will be 5.5 m). The maximum speed of the vessel is to be about 26 knots, and the crew will consist of 187 people.

PGZ Stocznia Wojenna will also build another ship for the Navy, which will be used, among others, to ensure the safety of seafarers on submarines and surface ships, and will also be used to provide assistance to civilian vessels. The contract for the construction of the ship under the “Rescuer” program was signed in late December last year in Gdynia; the vessel is expected to be ready by 2029. The first work, i.e., cutting the sheet metal and laying the keel, is expected to begin as early as 2025. The value of the order for the Navy is more than PLN 1 billion.

The ordered ship will have a hull 95-100 m long, about 19 m wide and a draught of 5 m; all this makes it the largest vessel of this class serving in the Polish Navy. The high displacement (up to 6 thousand tons, 3 times greater than in the case of the currently used old rescue vessels – ORP Piast and ORP Lech) will allow for the construction of a helipad. The ship will also be equipped with sonars (probably side and towed sonar) and a dynamic positioning system, which will allow the vessel to be kept in one place without the need to drop anchor.

The investment is additionally linked to the “Orka” program, under which the Navy is to receive submarines. In the summer of 2023, the Armament Agency invited shipbuilding companies to present their offers as part of preliminary market consultations. Almost all of the sector’s major companies have responded, including France’s Naval Group, Spain’s Navantia, Italy’s Fincantieri, Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, Sweden’s Saab Kockums and Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries. 

A lot of work is going on at the Remontowa Shipbuilding shipyard, where construction of 5 military ships is underway at the same time. We are talking about 3 mine destroyers of the Kormoran II type – ORP Jaskółka, ORP Rybitwa and ORP Czajka, as well as 2 radio-electronic reconnaissance ships of the SIGINT class (Delfin program) – ORP Jerzy Różycki and ORP Henryk Zygalski. The ships are being built as part of a consortium of companies: OBR Centrum Techniki Morskiej SA (OBR CTM) and PGZ Stocznia Wojenna, whose leader is Remontowa Shipbuilding. The main purpose of the ships will be to search for and fight sea mines in the waters of the Polish economic zone, as well as in tactical groups in the Baltic and North Sea, and to perform other auxiliary tasks. The modernity of the vessels is to be evidenced by solutions that make them difficult to detect or destroy (low radar and thermal presence, passive defense systems, demagnetization loops) and high maneuverability (cycloidal propellers that provide the ability to move in virtually any direction with equal power). A big one is also to be given by advanced sensors that will enable multitasking, which is valuable in combat conditions. The mine destroyer ORP Jaskółka was launched last June, and work is underway to equip it.

The mine destroyer ORP Rybitwa, meanwhile, is being prepared for launching, which is scheduled for March 2025, while construction of the last of the destroyers under construction, ORP Czajka, is at the stage of prefabrication of bottom sections. Shipyard representatives also emphasize that despite the earlier start of construction of ship 258/4, the ORP Jaskółka, the other 2 vessels will have a similar schedule of final work.
The handover of ORP Jaskółka is scheduled for September 2026; the other 2 ships will be completed in February (ORP Rybitwa) in and October 2027 (ORP Czajka).

Within the framework of the first series, 3 ships were built – ORP Kormoran (entering service in November 2017), ORP Albatros (entering service in November 2022) and ORP Mewa (entering service in November 2023). All of them serve in the 13th Minesweeper Squadron in the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla.

And SIGINT (signals intelligence) refers to a class of radio reconnaissanceships,which are also called intelligence ships. The two vessels, which are being built at the Gdańsk shipyard, are to replace the aged (approaching 50 years) vessels ORP Nawigator and ORP Hydrograf. The modern ships will be designed for such tasks as conducting electronic listening, radio signal recognition and radio communications. Under the November 2022 agreement, Swedish Saab is responsible for the development of the ships, their construction and also the integration of onboard systems, while Remontowa Shipbuilding is participating in the project as a subcontractor responsible for the construction of the ships in Poland.

The launch of ORP Jerzy Różycki is expected to take place as early as July 2025, while the launch of ORP Henryk Zygalski has been announced for December this year. Significantly, the new Polish intelligence ships are expected to be similar to the Swedish SIGINT Artemis radio reconnaissance ship, which entered service in 2022; Polish shipyards have been involved in its construction for some time.

Last June, however, preliminary market consultations began, which are expected to allow the expansion of the Navy fleet with a new hydrographic ship, ORP Hydrograf. The Armament Agency has launched a market consultation, and it has also been revealed that the ship is to replace the 2 Project 874 vessels used so far, which have been in service since 1982. The new ship is to be a single-hull design with autonomy of no less than 20 days and a range of at least 5,000 Mm, while maintaining unlimited seaworthiness. The ship’s crew is to consist of up to 48 people, and the equipment is to include systems allowing for hydrographic, meteorological and oceanographic measurements up to sea state 4. The Hydrograph is to perform its tasks mainly in the Baltic Sea and North Sea. Last year, five companies applied to participate in the construction of the ship: Enamor (in terms of equipping the ship with equipment and systems), Fincantieri, Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, Remontowa Shipbuilding and Saab Kockums.

The article was written in collaboration with Namiary Na Morze i Handel – a biweekly magazine providing expert information on the most important events and issues in the Polish maritime economy.