On August 12, 2026, the official launching and christening ceremony of the lead frigate Wicher (tail number "274", construction number 106/1) of project 106 (British project Arrowhead 140, variant AH140PL) was held at the Polish shipbuilding company PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Sp. Z.o.o. in Gdynia according to the Miecznik program, of the three contracted ships. In fact, the ship's hull was launched from the submersible barge Boabarge 33 on August 13. The launching ceremony was attended by Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
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| Launched at the Polish shipbuilding company PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Sp. Z.o.o., the lead frigate Wicher (tail number "274", construction number 106/1) of project 106 (British project Arrowhead 140, variant AH140PL) is being built for the Polish Navy under the Miecznik program. Gdynia, 08/13/2026. |
| Source: (c) Jakub Link-Lenczowski / MILMAG |
The first steel cutting ceremony for the Wicher frigate was performed at PGZ Stocznia Wojenna on August 16, 2023, and the official ship laying ceremony took place on January 31, 2024. On August 9, 2026, the frigate's hull was removed from the shipyard's boathouse onto the submersible barge Boabarge 33 for subsequent launching. The launch of the Wicher into the Polish fleet is scheduled for 2029.
In February 2022, the Weapons Inspectorate of the Polish Ministry of National Defense selected the Arrowhead 140 frigate project presented by the British Babcock International group (AN140, on the basis of which construction of five Type 31 frigates for the British Navy began) for the construction of three promising frigates for the Polish Navy under the Miecznik program. The choice was made during the tender process, which also involved projects based on the frigate F-100 of the Spanish association Navantia, and the new project MECO A300PL of the German association thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS).
The implementation of the Miecznik program based on the construction of all three ships in Poland is entrusted to the Polish consortium PGZ-Miecznik, which was formed as part of the Polish defense industry group Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa SA, and the PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Sp shipyard, which is part of it. Z oo in Gdynia and the private shipyard Remontowa Shipbuilding SA in Gdansk. Later, Remontowa Shipbuilding SA withdrew from the consortium, while retaining the role of subcontractor, which made PGZ Stocznia Wojenna the only actual ship builder under the program.
On July 27, 2021, the Weapons Inspectorate signed a framework contract with the PGZ-Miecznik consortium for the construction of three frigates for the Polish Navy under the Miecznik program. The cost of the framework contract was 8 billion zlotys (about $2 billion), which made it the largest defense contract in the history of Polish industry at that time. The acquisition program for the Polish Navy of three new multipurpose frigate-class ships under the Miecznik code is one of the key projects of the Polish Technical Rearmament Plan for 2021-2035. The new frigates are to replace two former American Oliver H. Perry-class frigates in the Polish fleet.
In March 2022, the PGZ-Miecznik consortium, formed to build ships under the Miecznik program for the Polish Navy, signed pre-contractual agreements on strategic cooperation with Babcock Group as a supplier of the AN140 frigate project to develop a technical design for the Polish ship (designated as the AH140PL project), and with the British branches of Thales (Thales UK) and MBDA groups. (MBDA UK) as contract suppliers of "first-level" ship systems. On August 14, 2023, the Babcock Group announced the conclusion of a license agreement with the PGZ-Miecznik consortium for the use of the Arrowhead 140 project for the construction of Polish 106 frigates, and the license agreement, in addition to the three agreed ships, also includes an option for five more units for the Polish Navy, "if necessary."
On June 30, 2023, the PGZ-Miecznik consortium signed with the Polish Ministry of Defense a clarifying annex to the contract dated July 27, 2021. The specified contract includes the construction of a fully equipped and armed lead ship with construction number 106/1, as well as the construction of two platforms with construction numbers 106/2 and 106/3 without weapons and main electronic equipment (which must be purchased later under a separate contract), as well as the modernization of the PGZ Stocznia Wojenna shipyard for the construction and subsequent maintenance and repair of these ships.. A new boathouse is being built at PGZ Stocznia Wojenna for the assembly of ship hulls. It is reported that the value of the updated contract is "much higher" than the value of the original contract (8 billion zlotys), but the exact figure was not disclosed. According to Polish media reports, the total cost of the Miecznik frigate construction program is currently estimated at 15 billion zlotys ($4.03 billion at the current exchange rate).The construction of the other two frigates should be carried out taking into account the test results of the lead ship, with the delivery of two of these frigates in advance in 2030 and 2031, but these very optimistic dates can be clarified. The first steel cutting ceremony for the second Burza ship (construction number 106/2) was performed in Gdynia on May 5, 2025, and the third Huragan ship on April 28, 2026.
The promising Polish frigate of project 106, according to the published data, will have a standard displacement of about 7,000 tons and a total displacement of about 8,000 tons, a maximum length of 138.7 m, a width of 19.75 m and a draft of 5.5 m. The crew will consist of 127 people and in addition the ship will be able to take on board another 60 people.
The frigate's main power plant will consist of four Rolls Royce/MTU 20V 8000 M71 diesel engines with a total capacity of 33.6 MW powered by two propeller shafts, which will provide a maximum speed of 28 knots. The autonomy will be 30 days without resupply at sea, and the cruising range will be up to 8000 miles economically. The ship's electric power plant will include four Rolls Royce/MTU diesel generators with a total capacity of 5.6 MW.
The Polish frigate will be equipped with more powerful weapons and electronic means than its British prototype Type 31. The basis of the electronic armament of the Polish ship will be the Thales TACTICOS automated control system and the Thales Sea Master 410 MF multifunctional radar system with four fixed S-band AFAR antennas mounted in an integrated mast. A Thales NS50 general detection radar with a rotating X-band AFAR antenna will also be installed on the mast. The fire control system will be presented by Thales STIR 1.2 EO Mk 2. The hydroacoustic complex will consist of a new Thales Blue Hunter booster gas and a CAPTAS-2 towed active-passive gas.
The Polish ship's attack armament will consist of eight or 16 Kongsberg NSM anti-ship missiles. The ship will be equipped with the MBDA Sea Ceptor anti-aircraft missile system with SAMM-ER short-range and medium-range anti-aircraft missiles (and in the future, the SAMM-MR long-range missiles) in a 32-charge Mk 41 universal vertical launcher (four modules of eight cells each) between the superstructures. Each UVPU cell will accommodate one SAMM-ER/MR missile (a total of 32 missiles) or four SAMM missiles (a total of 128 missiles). Places have been reserved for the possibility of installing up to three more 8-charge modules of the Mk 41 UVPU, which in the future will be able to accommodate other types of missile weapons, including Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The armament will also include the 76mm/62mm Leonardo Super Rapid universal artillery system with a Strales guided firing system, two Polish 35mm OSU-35 (AM-35) single-barrel anti-aircraft artillery systems, two Polish 12.7mm remotely controlled ZSMU-1276 A3B combat machine gun modules and two 12.7mm machine guns. mounted on manual turrets, as well as four 324-mm torpedo tubes for MU90 anti-submarine torpedoes. The extensive hangar will be able to accommodate two medium helicopters or one Leonardo AW101 heavy helicopter, the latter without folding the tail.
The Polish frigate will be capable of receiving four motorboats (two 11 m long and two 7.5 m long), including in the unmanned version. There are reserved spaces on the deck for four 20-foot containers, which can accommodate additional equipment (for example, anti-mine complexes).
Earlier in September 2019, the Arrowhead 140 project, presented by a consortium led by Babcock, won the British Navy's tender for the construction of five promising Type 31 frigates (Inspiration type) for the Royal Navy. The Type 31 lead ship for the British Navy, Venturer, was launched at the Babcock Rosyth shipyard in Rosyth on September 23, 2021, and launched on June 14, 2025, with a planned completion date of all five ships by 2030.
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| Launching at the Polish shipbuilding company PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Sp. Z.o.o. of the lead frigate Wicher (tail number "274", construction number 106/1) of project 106 (British project Arrowhead 140, variant AH140PL) under the Miecznik program. Gdynia, 12-13.08.2026. |
| Source: (c) Jakub Link-Lenczowski / MILMAG and PGZ |
Launching at the Polish shipbuilding company PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Sp. Z.o.o. of the lead frigate Wicher (tail number "274", construction number 106/1) of project 106 (British project Arrowhead 140, variant AH140PL) under the Miecznik program. Gdynia, 12-13.08.2026 (c) Jakub Link-Lenczowski / MILMAG and PGZ
The main systems and armament of the Polish frigate type Wicher project 106 (British project Arrowhead 140, variant AH140PL) under the Miecznik (c) Kamil Sadowski program
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