On Tuesday, April 28, 2026, a first steel-cutting ceremony for the Project 106 multipurpose frigate being built under the Miecznik program was held at the PGZ Stocznia Wojenna shipyard in Gdynia. This third and final ship ordered under the program is scheduled, according to current plans, to be launched in September 2028, when it will receive the name ORP Huragan. Until then, it will be officially known by its build number, B106/3.
Photos: Przemysław Gurgurewicz, MILMAG
The keel for Huragan is due to be laid later this year, in November. After less than two years, the ship is expected to be launched in September 2028 and handed over to the customer by the end of 2031.
Today’s steel cutting is the third and final such event in the history of the program. The first took place on August 16, 2023, when work began on unit B106/1, the future ORP Wicher, while last year, on May 5, 2025, construction of the second ship, B106/2, the future ORP Burza, began with an analogous steel-cutting ceremony.
Deputy Minister of National Defence Paweł Bejda starts the steel-cutting machine
Today’s ceremony also provided an opportunity to review the progress of construction on the first unit, which is currently in the hull integration hall. In three and a half months, the future ORP Wicher will be afloat. The ceremonial christening and naming ceremony has been scheduled for August 12. However, the entire launch operation will be much more complex and will take several days. In the first stage, the completed hull will have to be moved from the hall onto a special semi-submersible vessel, which will be used to place the unit in the water. This operation is expected to be completed on August 11. On the day of the official ceremony, the vessel carrying hull B106/1 will be moored at the shipyard quay, where the christening and naming ceremony will take place. The launch itself will be carried out in the waters of the Bay of Puck, due to the need to ensure a depth of at least 21 meters for the operation. It is currently assumed that the ship will be launched at dawn on August 13 and, once afloat, will be towed back to the shipyard.
The sheet bears the program name, the ship’s build number, and its future name, Huragan
This was the symbolic start of construction of the third Project 106 frigate under the Miecznik program
The Project 106 Miecznik frigates are multipurpose vessels with an overall length of 138.7 m, a maximum beam of 19.75 m, and a maximum displacement of around 7,000 tonnes. Their propulsion system, consisting of four MTU 20V 8000 M71 diesel engines, each with an output of 8,200 kW, is expected to enable a maximum speed of more than 26 knots. Cruising speed is to be 12 knots, with a range of around 8,000 nautical miles. The crew is expected to number around 180 personnel, with accommodation provided for 187 people.
The armament of the new Polish frigates will include:
- one Leonardo OTO Melara 76/62 Super Rapid Strales 76 mm gun,
- two PIT-Radwar OSU-35K AM-35K 35 mm anti-aircraft guns,
- two ZM Tarnów WKM-Bm 12.7 mm heavy machine guns,
- two TBO remotely operated machine guns,
- eight Kongsberg NSM anti-ship missile launchers, with provision to double this number to 16 launchers,
- the MBDA Sea Ceptor air defense system with 128 short-range CAMM surface-to-air missiles, with a range of more than 25 km, in a 32-cell Lockheed Martin Mk 41 Strike launcher, comprising four eight-cell modules. In the future, the Sea Ceptor system is also expected to gain the capability to use longer-range CAMM-ER missiles, with a range of more than 45 km, as well as the future CAMM-MR, or FCM, missiles, which are still planned for development and are expected to have a range of more than 100 km,
- four, in two twin launchers, EuroTorp B515 324 mm ASW torpedo launchers.
Today’s ceremony also provided an opportunity to review the progress of construction on the future ORP Wicher
The ships’ electronic equipment will include the following systems and devices:
- the Thales TACTICOS combat management system with 20 multifunction operator consoles,
- the Thales Sea Master 410 long-range multifunction radar, with a range of 400 km,
- a Thales NS50-series medium-range radar, specifically the NS58, with a range of 180 km,
- the Thales STIR 1.2 EO Mk 2 fire-control radar,
- the Thales identification friend-or-foe system with a TSA 6000 interrogator and TSC 4000 transponder,
- two ZGS-35K electro-optical heads of the PIT-Radwar OSU-35K system,
- the Thales Blue Hunter hull-mounted sonar,
- the Thales CAPTAS-2 towed-array sonar,
- a Thales bathymetric echo sounder,
- the Thales TUUM-6 underwater telephone,
- the Wavefront Sentinel IDS diver-detection sonar,
- the Rohde & Schwarz KORA integrated electronic warfare system,
- the PGZ SW integrated navigation and bridge system based on OSI products,
- the PGZ SW integrated communications system based on proprietary solutions and Rohde & Schwarz systems.
A display installed in the hull integration hall shows the countdown to the planned launch, which has been set for August 12 this year
The contract for the construction of three frigates under the Miecznik program was signed on July 27, 2021, between the then Armament Inspectorate and the PGZ-Miecznik consortium established for this purpose. At the time, the consortium consisted of Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) as the leader, PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Sp. z o.o. as a consortium member, and Remontowa Shipbuilding. The latter, however, withdrew from the consortium on June 14, 2023; as a result, the Gdynia-based Crist shipyard became the main subcontractor in the hull construction process.
The superstructure, together with the central mast, has already been installed on the hull
The agreement stipulated that, in the first stage, the consortium would carry out comparative analyses of the proposed designs, providing the Armament Agency with material to support the selection of the final solutions. In March 2022, it was announced that the offer from the British company Babcock, based on the Arrowhead 140 frigate, had been selected.
Construction of the first ship began around two years after the contract was signed. This was due to the fact that Annex No. 3, which set out the details of the final configuration of the ordered ships, their armament, and equipment, was signed only on June 30, 2023. It provided for the financing of a complete prototype unit and two subsequent ships without weapons systems, the electronic warfare system, the technical surveillance system, and most of the hydroacoustic system. These issues were supplemented on December 15, 2023, when, under Annex No. 4, the following equipment was purchased for the second and third frigates: 76 mm OTO Melara Super Rapid Strales guns, Lockheed Martin Mk 41 missile launchers, Sea Ceptor missile systems, Thales Sea Master 410 radars, Thales NS50-series radars, the Rohde & Schwarz KORA integrated electronic warfare system, and Thales identification friend-or-foe systems with a TSA 6000 interrogator and TSC 4000 transponder. At that time, the contract value including annexes was disclosed for the first time, amounting to 14.8 billion PLN.
After Annex No. 4, some equipment and armament for the second and third ships still remained unprocured. This applied in particular to the OSU-35K artillery system with ZGS-35K electro-optical heads, heavy machine guns, the Thales STIR 1.2 EO Mk 2 fire-control radar, the Thales CAPTAS-2 towed-array sonar, the Wavefront Sentinel IDS diver-detection sonar, and the Rohde & Schwarz KORA integrated electronic warfare system. The shipbuilding contract also does not include the purchase of shipborne helicopters or ammunition, including surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, or torpedoes.
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