Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1365706
to be postponed. The matter was brought up on the verge of the decade. Then, the Żeglarek upgrade program was launched, with Orkan vessels being retrofitted with RBS-15 Mk 3 anti-ship missiles delivered by Saab. 36 modern missiles as such were acquired for Orkans in total - one Orkan can carry 24 of these. Apart from the anti-ship missiles, the warships also received a modern sensor suite with Saab Sea Giraffe 3D radars, combined Thales Sting-EO radar/EO fire control systems, new comms, and datalink assets. All of the equipment has been integrated within the Thales Tacticos combat suite. The first vessel was handed off to the shipyard in 2002. The upgrade program con- cerning all three ships came to an end in 2008. Kaszub The potential of the Polish Surface Combatants Squadron is complemented by a lone ASW corvette - the ORP Kaszub vessel. The warship in question was commissioned in 1987. Similarly, as in the case of Ślązak, it was assumed that six ASW corvettes as such would be procured. Economic crisis and the Soviet reluc- tance to deliver modern weapons for Kaszub were the obsta- cles here. For that reason, the vessel, with incomplete onboard equipment and weapons inventory, was commissioned. Most of the planned equipment never made it. Kaszub's main mission is to search and act against submarines. However, its obsolete hull sonar and towed sonar arrays offer limited capabilities with- in that scope. The rocket depth-charge and torpedo launchers do not meet the modern ASW operations standards. Most of the ASW effort is usually done by the embarked helicopters these days. It is difficult to say as to why the vessel still remains in active service. According to the original plans made during the last decade, ORP Kaszub was to be decommissioned in 2017. with the use of the armament removed from the Orkan-class corvettes - the modern RBS-15 Mk III missiles. However, a step as such would entail expenditure required to integrate the new armament systems on the Ślązak vessel. The third scenario that is characterized by the highest degree of probability is the lack of decision on any upgrades, with the warship remaining "as is". It may be added, sarcastically, that the Polish Navy has relevant experience gathered, in operating single vessels without full ar- mament. Since the year 1985, a single ORP Kaszub ASW cor- vette has been a part of its inventory. It is missing many pieces of equipment that it was originally designed to carry. One may come to a conclusion that Ślązak is a worthy successor of the corvette mentioned above. Orkan Project 151 missile boats, also known as Orkan-class, are cur- rently the only vessels of the type operated by the Polish Navy now. The introduction of these is tied to the process initiated back in the 1980s, aimed at the replacement of the Project 205 missile boats. The initial plan assumed that a joint procurement program was to be launched with the German Democratic Re- public. However, it was no longer valid, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Poland managed to take over three hulls of the vessels destined for East Germany. After they were trans- ferred, the Polish shipyards dealt with the finalization of the build process. Without the Uran missile system destined for these warships, and without an ability to acquire it, the Orkan-class vessels were introduced being armed solely with AK-176M and AK-630M guns and Strela-2M VSHORAD systems. The Pol- ish Navy was well aware of the limited combat capabilities of these vessels. Nonetheless, due to budgetary constraints, the plan to equip them with modern western missile systems had www.fragoutmag.com