Frag Out! Magazine
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ship, with the optional acquisition of a second vessel, took place in December 2017. The agreement also involves shipyards, sub- ordinated to the PGZ Group. The first vessel was to be commis- sioned in 2022, and the second one - in 2024. However, the Ar- mament Inspectorate resigned from pursuing the agreement on April 24th, 2020, since the PGZ Group has gone over the origi- nally assumed cost limit. The second procurement process was launched on July 20th, 2020. It is estimated that the agreement would be signed here, by the end of 2021. Because the Polish submarines are in agony, one may, or should express doubts, when it comes to the reasonable nature of the "Ratownik" pro- gram, in the present circumstances. Owning a modern vessel, the only job of which would be to provide rescue capabilities for the submarines is required, when the navy owns reliable, avail- able, and operationally ready submarines. The current situation in the Polish Navy is different. The service would own only one submarine with questionable availability. The implementation of the Orka decade has been pushed forward to the next decade, while procurement of gap-filler submarines is not a process that one could consider successful. The project would drain funds from the limited budget of the Polish Navy, also not being the primary requirement. Tug The Holownik [Tug] program, aimed at acquiring six new tugs for the Polish Navy, should be viewed as the author's joke, at least to some extent. However, in all seriousness, Holownik is one of the two Navy procurement programs that proceeded to the implementation phase. However, controversies emerged here as well. The privately-owned Remontowa Shipbuilding en- tity, winning the tender, was not about to receive the order. The MoD wanted to assign the work to one of the state shipbuilding facilities. Ultimately, as a result of a series of appeals and pro- tests submitted to the National Chamber of Appeals, RSB was awarded an order, concerning the delivery of six Project B860 tugboats. Until the end of 2020, four vessels have already been commissioned. Two more would be handed off in 2021. Remaining Programs Supply - the Polish Navy assumed that two new supply vessels (1 + 1 as an option) would replace the two tankers operated now (Z-8, and ORP Bałtyk). The procurement process, however, was canceled on August 9th, 2017. It has been currently assumed www.fragoutmag.com