Polish Navy floats first frigate under major modernization program

WARSAW — ORP Wicher, the first of three multi-role frigates planned under the Polish Navy‘s Miecznik modernization program, was officially launched into the waters of Gdansk Bay off the Baltic Sea on Thursday. 

A christening ceremony for the vessel was attended by senior Polish officials, including President Karol Nawrocki and Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Nawrocki noted that the launch of the Miecznik program in 2021 has been crucial for Poland’s domestic shipbuilding industry.

“With well-calibrated public finances and a strong Polish budget, we managed to create a project that sets a benchmark for the coming years and decades,” Nawrocki said. 

The Miecznik-class frigates are intended to replace the country’s obsolete Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates and will form the backbone of the Polish Navy’s surface strike forces. Their missions will include defending naval installations and safeguarding critical infrastructure, such as wind farms, communications lines and the Baltic Pipe, which carries natural gas from the North Sea to Poland. The vessels are also expected to perform maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, air defense missions and support for amphibious operations.

After the launch, ORP Wicher proceeded to the outfitting and systems integration phase of its commissioning. The frigate is scheduled to be delivered to the Polish Navy in 2029. Work on the second frigate – ORP Burza – is ongoing; the process of construction and cutting of sheets began last year, and its launch is planned for September 2027. Construction of the third frigate – ORP Huragan – symbolically started in April, when the process of cutting sheets began. Program completion is scheduled for the end of 2031.

At the christening ceremony, President Nawrocki emphasized that the presence of the Russian Baltic Fleet and Russia’s militarized Kaliningrad exclave on Poland’s northern border requires constant vigilance. 

The “Polish Navy should use the best equipment in the world, and that is what we have before us today,” Nawrocki added.

The Miecznik program, valued at roughly $4 billion, represents “thousands of jobs, modern technologies, and major investments,” Prime Minister Tusk said at the ceremony.

“The Miecznik program is not only a significant technological leap, but above all, a real strengthening of Baltic security,” Tusk added. “The Miecznik frigates, alongside the future submarines of the Orka program, will constitute the main combat force of the Polish Navy and an important element in deterring a potential aggressor.” 

Warsaw’s defense strategy in recent years has prioritized political cooperation with, among others, Sweden, Finland, Norway and the Baltic states. Joint control of the Baltic Sea by NATO countries is key to Polish security plans.

The Miecznik program is the result of a partnership between Poland and the United Kingdom. Before the ceremony, Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, a top official in the Polish Ministry of National Defense, met with UK Deputy Defense Minister Lord Vernon Coaker. The ministers discussed, among other things, cooperation between the military and the arms industry, according to the Polish government. 

The other two Miecznik-class frigates will be built at the PGZ Naval Shipyard in Gdynia. The ships are based on the Babcock International Arrowhead-140 design, which has been adapted to the requirements of the Polish Navy and equipped with a range of state-of-the-art weapon systems.

The Miecznik-class frigates have length of 455 feet, and a maximum displacement of up to 7,000 tons with full armament. Maximum speed is 28 knots (32 miles per hour), while the operational range is 8,000 nautical miles. The vessel is crewed by up to 120 officers and sailors with the possibility of embarking an additional 60 personnel, who could be special operations forces or helicopter crews. 

Planned armament will be 32 cells of Mk 41 Vertical Launch System with the CAMM family of missiles, including medium-range missiles developed jointly with the UK. The armament also includes 16 Kongsberg NSM anti-ship missiles, launchers for 324 mm ASW torpedoes, as well as Leonardo’s 76 mm Super Rapido Strales main gun and remote-controlled machine guns. 

Thales will equip the Miecznik-class frigates with the Tacticos combat management system, sonars, infrared sensor and radars, providing the warships with multiple functions for detection, identification, command and control and decision making. Frigates will rely on a complete Thales sonar suite. The frigates also contain a hangar that will accommodate two medium helicopters or one heavy helicopter.