ORP ''Ślązak'' (241) is an

offshore patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

of the Polish Navy, formerly known as . The ship is named ''Ślązak'' ( pl,

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

n). It is a licence variant of the

MEKO The MEKO family of warships was developed by the German company Blohm+Voss. MEKO is a registered trademark. The portmanteau stands for "''Mehrzweck-Kombination''" (English: multi-purpose-combination). It is a concept in modern naval shipbuilding b ...

A-100 project developed by

Blohm + Voss Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...

Construction

In 1997 Poland was invited to join

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and became a member state on 12 March 1999. In December 1997 representatives of the

Ministry of National Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

and the Polish Navy selected a conceptual design for future multipurpose corvettes. Inquiries were sent to four foreign shipyards from the UK, the US,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. The commission decided to go with the German

A-100

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

design by

. The technical project was approved in 2001. A final agreement with Stocznia Marynarki Wojennej (Naval Shipyard in

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and ...

) was signed on 27 November 2001 for construction of one '' Projekt 621'' (shipyard designation ''Gawron'') corvette, a second (optional) and five consecutive (optional). At the same time the shipyard signed a licensing agreement worth PLN 60 million for the use of the MEKO A-100 concept.Okręt Gawron kulisy cz. II.
17 August 2012. The keel of the first ship was laid on 28 November 2001 in the presence of Poland's Prime Minister

Leszek Miller Leszek Cezary Miller (Polish pronunciation: ; born 3 July 1946) is a Polish politician. He has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since July 2019. From 1989 to 1990 was a member of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Pa ...

. In 2000 and 2002 Polish Navy commissioned two ex-US Navy s and on 23 December 2002 financing was cut to a single corvette. Unlike multirole combat aircraft acquisition financed separate of National Defence budget, the program wasn't a priority for the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and suffered from insufficient funding. The cost was initially set at PLN 250 million per ship. In 2003 estimated total cost of a single Gawron-class corvette was estimated at PLN 850 million, in 2005 at around PLN 1.1 billion. Finally in 2012 the figures have grown to PLN 1.5 billion (EUR 360 mln).ORP Slazak / Gawron / Projekt 621 (Meko A 100).
globalsecurity.org In 2007 a shipyard awarded Italian

Avio Avio S.p.A. is an Italian company operating in the aerospace sector with its head office in Colleferro near Rome, Italy. Founded in 1908, it is present in Italy and abroad with different commercial offices and 10 production sites. Avio operates ...

a USD 10 million deal to provide

CODAG Combined diesel and gas (CODAG) is a type of propulsion system for ships that need a maximum speed that is considerably faster than their cruise speed, particularly warships like modern frigates or corvettes. Pioneered by Germany with the , a CO ...

propulsion system. In 2008 the hull was at 80% completion when financial crisis broke up. In 2009 the defence budget was cut by 5 billion PLN.Projekt korwety Gawron dla PMW.
This led to postpone the decision to order the combat systems worth PLN 824 million that was negotiated with Thales in 2008. The ships planned armament included

RIM-162 ESSM The RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) is a development of the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missile used to protect ships from attacking missiles and aircraft. ESSM is designed to counter supersonic maneuvering anti-ship missiles. ESSM also has the ab ...

and RIM-116 RAM

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

RBS-15 The RBS 15 (Robotsystem 15) is a long-range fire-and-forget surface-to-surface and air-to-surface anti-ship missile. The later version Mk. III has the ability to attack land targets as well. The missile was developed by the Swedish company Saab ...

Mk 3 anti-ship missiles and MU90 Impact torpedoes. On 16 September 2009 the hull already with engines, turbines, generators,

line shaft A line shaft is a power-driven rotating shaft for power transmission that was used extensively from the Industrial Revolution until the early 20th century. Prior to the widespread use of electric motors small enough to be connected directly to e ...

s and air-conditioners completed technical launching for the first time. At the same time the Ministry of Defence decided to suspend corvette financing. In April 2011 the court declared Naval Shipyard's bankruptcy. On 24 February 2012 Gawron program was cancelled. At that time the hull was largely completed at the cost of 402 million PLN (~US$130m), but equipping it with combat systems would have cost an additional 1 billion PLN (~US$320m). On 23 September 2013 an annex to 2001 construction contract was signed to complete the sole unit as patrol vessel. Due to design changes the program code name was changed to ''Projekt 621M''. ORP Ślązak modular design and systems allows to upgrade it to the corvette configuration in the future. In December 2013

Thales Group Thales Group () is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors. The company is headquartered in Paris' ...

was selected as mission suite supplier for 100 million

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

worth contract. A contract with Thales for delivery of the integrated combat system for the Ślązak was signed in March 2014. The deal include TACTICOS Combat Management System,

SMART-S SMART-S Mk2 ''(Signaal Multibeam Acquisition Radar for Tracking, S band Mk2)'' is a naval medium to long-range air and surface surveillance multibeam passive electronically scanned array 3D radar designed by Thales Nederland, formerly Holland ...

Mk2 surveillance radar, STING-EO Mk2 fire control radar, MIRADOR electro-optical observation and fire control system and LINK 11/16 tactical data link system. On 2 July 2015 ORP ''Ślązak'' was christened during official launching ceremony, becoming the first new Polish-built Navy ship in 21 years, since the

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

ORP ''Wdzydze'' (TRB 646) was launched in 1994. It was expected to be commissioned in November 2016, however in 2016 the commissioning was delayed until 2018 and in 2018, until 2019. In 2016 the ship underwent systems trials, including engine room, power generators, fire control consoles and boats lifting and lowering hydraulic system. It will be equipped with six-seat Markos MK-500 and fifteen-seat MK-790

rigid-hulled inflatable boat A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are ...

s. The units OTO Melara Super Rapid MF L/62 main gun was mounted on June 15, 2016.Montaż armaty na Ślązaku.
16 June 2016

References

Projekt 621 (typ Gawron)
okretywojenne.mil.pl
ORP “Ślązak” Launched.
defence24.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Slazak (2016) Ships of the Polish Navy 2015 ships Patrol vessels