On August 16, 2023, at the Polish shipbuilding company PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Sp. Z.o.o. in Gdynia, an official ceremony of the first steel cutting and the start of construction for the Polish Navy of a new type of frigate project 106 (British project Arrowhead 140, variant AH140PL) under the Miecznik program, of three contracted ships, took place. The ceremony was attended by Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak. The lead frigate with the construction number 106/1 will receive the historical name for Polish ships Wicher ("Whirlwind"). The other two frigates should be named Burza ("Storm") and Huragan ("Hurricane").
The appearance of a promising Polish frigate project 106 (British project Arrowhead 140) of the Wicher type under the Miecznik program, image for July 2023 (c) Babcock International
Recall that in February 2022, the Weapons Inspectorate of the Ministry of National Defense of Poland selected 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 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 F-100 frigate of the Spanish Navantia association, and the new MEKO A300PL project of the German thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) association.
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 industrial group Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa SA, which is part of the shipyard PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Sp. 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 builder of ships 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 value of the framework contract was 8 billion zlotys (about $ 2 billion), which made 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.
In March 2022, the PGZ-Miecznik consortium, formed to build ships under the Miecznik program for the Polish Navy, signed pre-contract agreements on strategic cooperation with Babcock Group as a supplier of the AN140 frigate project to develop a technical project 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, 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 frigates of Project 106, 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 a clarifying annex to the contract dated July 27, 2021 with the Polish Ministry of Defense. The specified contract includes the construction of a fully equipped and armed lead ship with the construction number 106/1, as well as the construction of two platforms with the construction numbers 106/2 and 106/3 without weapons and main electronic equipment (the purchase of which should be made 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 to assemble the hulls of ships. It is reported that the value of the specified contract is "much higher" than the cost of the initial counterattack (8 billion zlotys), but the exact figure has not been disclosed.
Currently, the program's implementation dates are about a year behind those agreed in the 2021 contract. It is reported that now the official laying of the head frigate 106/1 is scheduled for the first quarter of 2024, and launching - for the third quarter of 2026. The final delivery of the lead ship to the Polish navy is expected based on the results of tests in 2028-2030. 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 these two frigates in advance in 2030 and 2031, but these very optimistic deadlines can be clarified.
The promising Polish frigate of project 106, according to the published data, will have a standard displacement of about 7000 tons and a total displacement of about 8000 tons, the maximum length of 138.7 m, width of 19.75 m and draft of 5.5 m. The crew will be 127 people and in addition the ship will be able to take on board another 60 people.
The main power plant of the frigate will consist of four 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, the cruising range is up to 8000 miles by economic stroke. The ship's electric power plant will include four 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 radio-electronic armament of the Polish ship will be the Thales TACTICOS ASBU (officially, however, its choice has not been announced) and the Thales Sea Master 410 multifunctional radar complex with four fixed antennas with S-band AFAR installed in an integrated mast. Also, the Thales NS50 general detection radar with a rotating antenna with X-band AFAR will be installed on the mast. The fire control complex will be presented by Thales STIR 1.2 EO Mk 2. The hydroacoustic complex will consist of a new Thales Blue Hunter submerged gas and a towed active-passive GAS CAPTAS-2.
The Polish ship will be equipped with 16 Saab RBS-15 Mk 3E anti-ship missiles. The MBDA Sea Ceptor anti-aircraft missile system will be installed on the ship with SAMM-ER short-range and medium-range SAMM-ER anti-aircraft missiles (and in the future, the SAMM-MR long-range missiles that are still being developed) in the Mk 41 32-charge universal vertical launcher (four modules of eight cells) between the superstructures. Each UVPU cell will accommodate one SAMM-ER missile (32 missiles in total) or four SAMM missiles (128 missiles in total). There are reserved places for the possibility of installing up to three more 8-charge modules of the Mk 41 UVPU, in which in the future it will be possible to place other types of missile weapons, including Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Also, the armament will include the 76 mm /62 Leonardo Super Rapid universal artillery installation with a complex of controlled shots Strales, two Polish 35 mm single-barrel anti-aircraft artillery complexes OSU-35, two Polish 12.7mm remotely controlled combat machine gun modules ZSMU-1276 A3B and two 12.7mm machine guns on manual turrets, and also four 324 mm torpedo tubes for MU90 anti-submarine torpedoes. The extensive hangar will be able to accommodate two medium helicopters or one heavy helicopter of the Leonardo AW101 type, and the latter without folding the tail.
The Polish frigate will be able to take four motor boats (two 11 m long and two 7.5 m long) - including in the non-powered version. There are reserved spaces on the deck for four 20-foot containers, in which additional equipment (for example, mine protection systems) can be placed.
Earlier 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 construction at the Babcock Rosyth shipyard in Rosyth on September 23, 2021, with a planned delivery date of all five ships by 2030.
The ceremony of the first steel cutting and the start of construction for the Polish Navy at the Polish shipbuilding company PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Sp. Z.o.o. of the lead frigate Wicher (construction number 106/1) of a new type of project 106 (British project Arrowhead 140, variant AH140PL) under the Miecznik program. Gdynia, 16.08.2023 (c) Ministry of National Defense of Poland
