Polish MoD slashes new rescue vessel

The Armaments Inspectorate, which acts on behalf of the Polish Ministry of Defense (MoD), announced its intention to cancel the ongoing programme for procurement of at least one Ratownik-class submarine rescue and salvage vessel.

The original contract for the construction and delivery of a Ratownik-class prototype vessel was signed in late 2017 between the Armaments Inspectorate and a consortium of Polish Armaments Group (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa), acting as a leader, as well as Stocznia Remontowa NAUTA, Stocznia Wojenna PGZ and OBR CTM.

The agreement had an initial value of 755 million Polish Zloty (€166 million). The prototype of Ratownik was planned for delivery by November 2022. The contract included an option for another submarine rescue and salvage vessel.

According to the Armaments Inspectorate, decision to cancel the programme was taken after vessel’s manufacturer failed to reach a number of milestones in the production timeline. Significant cost overruns were also identified.

Ratownik is just another in a long list of Polish Navy’s procurement and modernization programmes, which most likely will be delayed or even cancelled in due time.

Recently, the Armaments Inspectorate has announced its intetion to cancel the planned modernization of three Orkan-class fast attack crafts. A number of onboard systems, such as Sea Giraffe 3-D radars, TACTICOS CMS and Sting-EO fire control radars, were expected to go through an upgrade. The vessels would also receive 57mm BAE Systems Bofors Mk3 naval guns (Polish Navy might change its modernization plans, 2020-04-10).

The MoD might also decide to prolongate or even cancel the long awaited Orka and Miecznik programmes, which called for procurement of a series of modern conventional submarines and coastal defense vessels (Poland’s procurement goals for 2020, 2020-01-02).