TSAMTO, August 17. On August 16, the PGZ Stocznia Wojenna enterprise in Gdynia hosted the cutting ceremony of the first steel for the construction of a lead frigate for the Polish Navy as part of the MIECZNIK program.
According to the Polish arms group Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa S.A., the event was attended by Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak, other officials. In total, as part of the Mechnik program, by 2032, PGZ Stocznia Wojenna plans to build three frigate-class warships, which will become the most modern in the Polish Navy.
The project will be implemented in cooperation with leading European defense companies (Babcock International Group, MBDA, Thales) and Polish Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. within the framework of the largest contract ever concluded with the Polish shipbuilding industry. Currently, the "Swordsman" program is being implemented in accordance with the schedule. It is planned that the lead frigate will be built by 2026.
It is expected that the multi-purpose ships will significantly enhance the capabilities of the Polish Navy and will enable them to perform a wide range of tasks at sea, including ensuring the safety of sea routes and critical infrastructure facilities. The ships will also be Poland's contribution to NATO's potential.
According to the contractor, the multipurpose frigates will be equipped with modern radar, artillery and missile systems and will receive new capabilities, and the competencies acquired by Polish contractors during construction will help implement other projects for the Polish Navy.
As reported by TSAMTO, the Polish Ministry of Defense announced the beginning of the procedure for the purchase of new frigates under the "Swordsman" program in March 2021. To implement the project, the consortium PGZ-Miecznik was formed as part of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa S.A. and PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Sp. z o.o., which acts as a contractor for the construction. On July 27, 2021, the Weapons Inspectorate of the Polish Ministry of Defense and the PGZ-Miecznik consortium signed an agreement for the development, construction and supply of three frigate-class warships with integrated combat systems to the Polish Navy under the Mechnik program. The cost of the contract, including the means of destruction and the logistics package, is about 8 billion. zloty ($2 billion).
The project was supposed to be implemented in cooperation with a foreign partner, as which Babcock International Group was chosen. The ships will be built on the basis of the project of the frigate "Arrowhead-140" (AH140), which was previously selected by the British and Indonesian Navies.
On March 4, 2022, the Arms Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Poland announced the signing of an agreement on strategic cooperation within the framework of the Mechnik program, which provides for the supply of three new frigate-class warships with an integrated combat system. The PGZ-Miecznik Consortium has concluded a number of strategic cooperation agreements with Babcock International (Babcock), including a license agreement for the use of the Arrowhead-140 frigate project. Based on this decision, the contractor developed a preliminary design of the ship and updated the feasibility study with a feasibility study.
The license granted by Babcock allows in the future to implement options for the construction of five additional ships for the Polish Navy.
As planned, the length of the ship will be about 138 m, the maximum width is about 20 m, the total displacement is about 7 thousand tons, the crew is 120 people (plus about 60 additional personnel). The frigate will be equipped with a CODAD-type GEU with four diesel engines, will be able to reach a maximum speed of 28 knots, a range of 8 thousand nautical miles.
The new frigate will be armed with a 76-mm Super Rapid artillery installation of the Leonardo group; two 35-mm OSU-35K automatic guns of PIT-RADWAR; DUMV with machine guns; four modules of vertical Mk-41 launchers, each of which can accommodate up to 32 MBDA CAMM missiles placed in eight containers; four double-container RBS-15 Mk anti-ship missile launchers.3E of Saab; two twin-tube torpedo tubes.
The new ships will replace two obsolete Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates acquired from the US Navy.
