{"id":21340,"date":"2026-08-15T00:29:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T00:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/21340\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T00:29:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T00:29:25","slug":"poland-debuts-first-miecznik-frigate-orp-wicher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/21340\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland Debuts First Miecznik Frigate \u2018ORP Wicher\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Poland\u2019s state-owned PGZ Naval Shipyard has officially christened and launched<\/a> the future ORP Wicher in Gdynia, marking the debut of the nation\u2019s Miecznik-class multirole frigate program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The vessel is the first of three planned warships built under a 15-billion-zloty ($4 billion) program designed to overhaul the Polish Navy\u2019s surface combatants and bolster NATO capabilities along the eastern flank.<\/p>\n

The 139-meter (456-foot) Miecznik platforms are being constructed domestically by a consortium alongside international industry partners Thales and MBDA, basing the platforms on Babcock\u2019s Arrowhead 140 design<\/a> used by the UK Royal Navy\u2019s Type 31 frigates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Equipped with Thales\u2019 TACTICOS combat management systems and MBDA\u2019s CAMM-series air defense missiles, the incoming fleet will conduct air defense, anti-surface operations, and maritime surveillance in the Baltic Sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Miecznik program is a fantastic example of how defense cooperation between allies can deliver real capability,\u201d UK Minister of State for Defence Lord Vernon Coaker commented<\/a> at the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt brings together expertise from the United Kingdom and Poland to help address today\u2019s evolving security challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Breakthrough\u2019<\/p>\n

Polish officials confirmed that the ORP Wicher is scheduled to enter service in 2029.<\/p>\n

Construction of the second Miecznik frigate<\/a>, the ORP Burza, has been underway since May 2025, while developments for the third vessel, the ORP Huragan, began in April 2026.<\/p>\n

Once commissioned, they will gradually replace two aging Oliver Hazard Perry-class vessels acquired from the US Navy in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, a breakthrough is taking place,\u201d Polish President Karol Nawrocki stated<\/a> during the event. \u201cThe Polish Navy is being significantly strengthened. This Miecznik project and program also provided a boost to the Polish shipbuilding industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to Polish shipyard workers and sailors, a sovereign, independent Poland is able to ensure its security.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Poland\u2019s state-owned PGZ Naval Shipyard has officially christened and launched the future ORP Wicher in Gdynia,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12977,9,13325],"class_list":["post-21340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-poland","tag-frigate","tag-poland","tag-type-31-frigate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}