The ceremony for the first steel cut for the future HURAGAN was held on 28 April 2026 at the PGZ shipyard in Gdynia. Now all 3 ships in the project are in build, with the lead hull, the WICHER, scheduled for launch in August. The second vessel, the future BURZA, is already seeing hull sections undergoing assembly.
It’s an important milestone for PGZ in Gdynia, where new infrastructure, including a large covered assembly hall, was built specifically for this major project. The vessels are assembled in the new, purpose-built PGZ Stocznia Wojenna’s Hull Hall, which is currently the largest ship assembly hall in Poland, with construction of the blocks in the shipyard’s production halls. The bow sections for the frigates are also being built at the partner shipyard CRIST S.A., also in Gdynia.
The MIECZNIK frigates are based on the british Babcock’s ARROWHEAD 140 design, itself an evolution for the Royal Navy needs of the Danish IVER HUITFELDT design, originally by OMT. The Polish vessels have been designed from the outset to have a heavier armament than the Type 31 in build for the Royal Navy, although now the British ships are expected to get a MK41 VLS fit as well.
At 7,000 tonnes, 138 meters in length and 20 in beam, the MIECZNIKs will have substantial anti-air warfare capability. Their 32 MK41 cells are expected to embark variable mixes of MBDA CAMM and CAMM ER missiles. Since there weapons can be quad-packed, the total load of missiles could be as high as 128.
UK and Poland have an agreement in pace, just reaffirmed (although with little in terms of detail) in the Northolt Treaty, to also jointly develop a longer ranged, more capable CAMM MR missile which will have interception ranges of around 100 km. MBDA has showcased models of the CAMM MR that show the possibility of fitting 2 missiles into a single MK41 cell.
All three vessels should be in the hands of the Polish navy by 2031. The vessels will also be armed with multiple NSM anti-ship missiles (at least 8 although graphics showing additional launchers have repeatedly appeared), a Leonardo-Oto Melara 76 mm STRALES gun and polish AM-35 35 mm secondary guns by PIT-Radwar as CIWS.
The vessels have a range of approximately 8,000 nautical miles with a CODAD propulsion configuration on 4 Diesels and a declared maximum speed of around 28 knots.
A notable feature of the MIECZNIK design as it emerged through the various iterations is the use of a Thales SEAMASTER 410 MF main radar with 4 fixed faces. 3 faces will be located atop the main mast, with the 4th, rear-facing antenna installed on a dedicate astern mast. Use of a Thales CAPTAS-2 Variable Depth Sonar is also planned, along with a hull-mounted BLUEHUNTER.
Privacy Policy
Powered by © Mobilbyte s.a.s. Information Technology