Poland’s Largest Naval Vessel Named: The Frigate Wicher Nears the Water

The naming ceremony for the new Miecznik-class frigate Wicher took place on Wednesday in Gdynia, marking a historic milestone for Poland’s shipbuilding and naval modernization efforts.

The Naming and Upcoming Launch

The naming ceremony for the new warship took place on Wednesday (August 12) at the PGZ Naval Shipyard in Gdynia. This is where an entire series of three Miecznik-type frigates will be built, with the first being the Wicher. It is not yet ORP Wicher, as the three-letter prefix denoting “Ship of the Republic of Poland” will officially be granted in 2029 upon its completion and formal commissioning into the Polish Navy.

Top politicians attended the ceremony, ranging from President Karol Naworski to Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Speeches were delivered, but the ship was named by godmother Agata Ziemiańska, wife of Vice Admiral Jarosław Ziemiańska, Inspector of the Navy. Afterward, she traditionally cut the ribbon with an axe, a champagne bottle broke against the hull, and the Wicher remained stationary, as the actual launch is scheduled for Thursday (August 13).

Construction and Transfer Method

The Wicher was constructed in a large hall at the PGZ Naval Shipyard on Oksywie in Gdynia, where such large vessels have never been built before, meaning traditional launching infrastructure is absent. The unfinished ship was moved onto a large specialized barge, towed to the adjacent quay for the christening ceremony, and will be moved to deep water in the Gdańsk Bay to submerge slowly and float independently before returning to the shipyard for years of outfitting.

Simultaneously, the construction of the second Miecznik ship, the future ORP Burza, is underway in the cleared hall, alongside preliminary hull work for the third unit, ORP Huragan. These names are historical, referring to the first two destroyers of the Second Polish Republic built in France, while the Huragan was meant to be the second Grom-class destroyer whose construction was halted by war.

Unprecedented Scale and Specifications

The three Miecznik-class frigates are the largest warships ever built in Poland, excluding Imperial German vessels from World War I and earlier built in Szczecin, Gdańsk, and Elblag. Previously, the largest warship built domestically was the patrol corvette ORP Ślązak, launched in 2015 with a full-combat displacement of around 2.5 thousand tons. In contrast, the Miecznik frigates will displace up to 7 thousand tons, measuring 138 meters long, 20 meters wide, and drawing 5.5 meters.

Designed as multi-role vessels, they feature a broad range of armaments including vertical launchers for up to 128 CAMM air-defense missiles, two launchers for eight NSM anti-ship missiles, two launchers for four MU90 anti-submarine torpedoes, and rapid-fire guns for short-range self-defense. Powered by four diesel engines driving two shafts, they can reach up to 28 knots with a crew of around 120 and space for 60 additional personnel.

Schedule and Strategic Challenges

The current schedule dictates that the Wicher will be handed over to the fleet by the end of 2029, following extensive outfitting and testing. Given that ships of this size and complexity have never been built in Poland, meeting this timeline in just over three years presents a major challenge, and delays are expected, especially since initial plans targeted 2028. The Burza is slated for 2030 and the Huragan for 2031.

The frigate program officially began in 2021 after a decade of deliberation, with costs currently estimated at around 15 billion PLN following several annexes, according to Tomasz Dmitruk of “Dziennik Zbrojny”. Led by the state-owned Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) with Britain’s Babcock as a key partner using the Arrowhead 140 design, the project relies on imported equipment due to a lack of domestic advanced naval systems, with Poland’s primary contribution being hull construction and systems integration.

Unresolved Deficits and Future Potential

Despite progress, two major issues remain unresolved in the Miecznik program. First, while the ships feature a hangar and flight deck for large anti-submarine helicopters, no such helicopters have been procured under the Kondor program. Second, while the frigates use basic CAMM missiles with a 25-kilometer range, they lack the extended-range CAMM-ER or medium-range CAMM-MR missiles required for true area air defense, with no official work currently underway for these long-range variants.

Regardless of these hurdles and persistent low funding priorities for the Navy compared to ground and air forces, the three new frigates—alongside planned Orka submarines, upgraded Orkan missile ships, and Kormoran mine countermeasures vessels—will form the pillar of a significantly strengthened Polish fleet in the next decade.