According to Polish media, the Arrowhead 140 frigate project presented by the British Babcock International group (AN140, on the basis of which the construction of five Type 31 frigates for the British Navy was started) was selected on a competitive basis for the construction of three units for the Polish Navy under the Miecznik ("Swordsman") program. On March 4, 2022, the Polish consortium PGZ-Miecznik, formed to build ships under the Miecznik program for the Polish Navy, signed pre-contract agreements on strategic cooperation with the British Babcock International group as a supplier of the AN140 frigate project for the development of a technical project for a Polish ship, and with the British branches of Thales (Thales UK) and MBDA (MBDA UK) groups as contract suppliers of "first level" ship systems.
An alleged image of a variant of the Arrowhead 140 frigate project (AN140) of the British Babcock International group performed for the Polish Navy (c) Babcock International
The PGZ-Miecznik consortium includes the Polish state Defense Industrial association Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa SA - PGZ), the shipyard PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Sp, which is part of it. Z oo (Gdynia), as well as the private shipyard Remontowa Shipbuilding SA (Gdansk, formerly the shipyard Stocznia Północna until 2011). The construction of three ships is planned to be carried out at PGZ Stocznia Wojenna, with the involvement of the Remontowa Shipbuilding shipyard as a subcontractor, including for the manufacture of part of the hull sections.
Earlier, on July 27, 2021, the Weapons Inspectorate of the Ministry of National Defense of Poland signed a framework contract with the PGZ-Miecznik consortium for the construction of three frigates for the Polish Navy under the Miecznik program, and the consortium was entrusted with the tender process itself for choosing the type of ship and concluding contracts with selected foreign contractors. It should be noted that such an original scheme for the implementation of the tender has caused considerable criticism in Poland.
The value of the framework contract is up to 10 billion zlotys (up to $ 2.58 billion), which makes it the largest defense contract in the history of Polish industry. The acquisition program for the Polish Navy of three new multi-purpose ships of the Frigate class under the Miecznik cipher is one of the key projects of the Polish Technical Re-equipment Plan for 2021-2035. The new frigates are to replace two former American frigates of the Oliver H. Perry type in the Polish fleet.
By the end of November 2021, the PGZ-Miecznik consortium presented to the Weapons Inspectorate of the Polish Ministry of Defense three variants of advance projects developed on the basis of projects submitted by three foreign bidders - the Arrowhead 140 project of the British Babcock group, the project based on the F-100 frigate of the Spanish Navantia association, and the new MEKO A300PL project of the German thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS).
At the end of February 2022, the Weapons Inspectorate selected an advance project based on the British Arrowhead 140 project, on the basis of which the PGZ-Miecznik consortium should begin developing a technical project. Observers note that in fact the cheapest of the submitted projects was chosen. It was reported that earlier, Navantia's proposal, providing for equipping the ship with the AEGIS weapon system, was eliminated first by cost criteria.
According to the plans, it is planned that the first ship should be laid down at the PGZ Stocznia Wojenna shipyard in 2023 and handed over to the fleet in 2028. 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 2033 and 2034.
The appearance and parameters of the equipment and weapons of the Polish version of the Arrowhead 140 frigate have not yet been disclosed. However, informed that he will be fitted with the Thales Tacticos ACBA, which of the Polish Navy is already used on the patrol ship Ślązak and missile boats like Orkan. Group Thales, apparently, put, and other basic electronic warfare vehicle, including radar and GUS. MBDA UK vjerojatno, put a ship SAM short range Sea Ceptor (with SAMM missiles in vertical launchers for 24 or 32 cells). Judging by the graphic image published by Babcock of the proposed Polish version of the Arrowhead 140 project, it may also receive eight launchers of the Kongsberg NSM anti-ship missile system, one 21-charge Mk 49 Raytheon RAM self-defense missile system, a new 76-mm Leonardo 76/62 Sovraponte universal light artillery system, a Polish 35-mm single-barreled OSU-35 anti-aircraft artillery system, 324-mm torpedo tubes, as well as a helicopter ( the Sikorsky MH-60R is depicted) permanently based in a hangar.
Poland will thus become the second foreign customer of the Arrowhead 140 frigate project after Indonesia, which signed a contract for the licensed construction of two ships of this type in September 2021. The Arrowhead 140 project was developed under the auspices of Babcock on the basis of the project of the famous Danish frigates of the Iver Huitfeldt type, created earlier jointly by the British design and industrial group VMT and the Danish company Odense Maritime Technology (OMT). In September 2019, the Arrowhead 140 project, presented by a consortium led by Babcock, won the tender of the British Navy 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 started by construction at the Babcock Rosyth shipbuilding facility in Rosyth on September 23, 2021, with a planned delivery date of all five ships by 2030. Now the Arrowhead 140 project is also actively promoted for export.
