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Leonardo
The first of four AW101s ordered for the Polish Navy made its maiden flight at the Leonardo UK site at Yeovil in July 2021.
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operations and target acquisition with the use of onboard ship radar systems. The new maritime helicopters will be subordinate to the Naval Aviation Brigade of the Polish Navy. Nine manufacturers have signalled their intention to participate in the TDP including four local Polish companies and five foreign manufacturers. Bell is offering its 412 model while Leonardo’s PZL-Świdnik is pitching the AW159 Wildcat.
Leonardo with PZL-Świdnik already has successfully competed for a Polish Navy contract for the replacement of six Soviet-era Mil Mi-14L/PS. In April 2019, the company announced it would supply four AW101s and a comprehensive integrated logistics and training package worth $430 million to the Polish MND. PZL-Świdnik is acting as prime contractor while the team assembling the aircraft is at Leonardo in Yeovil, UK. The first production AW101 aircraft for the Polish Navy achieved its first flight at the company’s site in Yeovil on 20 July 2021. The flight demonstrated functional checks of the main airframe systems as well as the control system, and engine-handling checks were taken throughout to monitor the speed range of the aircraft. The flight envelope will now be opened further with testing exploring the bespoke mission equipment fitted to the aircraft.
The AW101 will perform a range of missions for the Polish Navy including ASW and Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR), with aircraft deliveries scheduled by the end of 2022.
In December 2018 Airbus had announced its decision to withdraw from the Polish MND’s tender to acquire new helicopters to replace the Navy’s Mi-14s. The company said that again the offset requirements defined by the Polish MND made it impossible for Airbus to submit a competitive offer, but that it continued to be interested in supporting the process of the modernisation of the Polish Armed Forces in the field of helicopter fleet replacement.
In another sector of the Polish Armed Forces modernisation campaign, the MND announced in March 2018 that another much delayed programme codenamed Gryf for a medium-range tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was to involve the delivery of six systems, each with four UAVs and a control station between 2020 and 2022. Another six systems could be procured in the unspecified future. Competitors were expected to include Elbit Systems’ Hermes 900 and General Atomics’ MQ-9 Reaper but in a surprise move, the Polish MND signed a contract with the Turkish company Baykar OEM in May 2021 to purchase four Bayraktar TB-2 combat systems, which include 24 UAVs, for approximately $270 million, with the first system to be delivered in 2022. Poland has become the first buyer of Turkish-made UAVs within NATO.
Under the Albatros programme to provide a tactical short-range maritime VTOL UAV for the Polish Navy, the Armament Inspectorate announced six bidders: UMS Skeldar, WB Electronics, PZL-Świdnik with Leonardo, Schiebel, WORKS 11 with Martin UAV, and Siltec. The bids had to be submitted by 29 January 2021 with the delivery of a system within 15 months.
Earlier this year it was reported that Poland has managed to avoid the same level of economic damage experienced in other European countries during the pandemic and this may fast track some of the Polish Armed Forces’ delayed aircraft programmes that must be resolved in the near future.
An impression of Babcock’s solution to the Polish Navy’s Swordfish multi-mission coastal defence frigate requirements - the Arrowhead 140 design.
POLISH DEFENCE AMBITION V REALITY
Polish military procurement has ambition, although this has been slowed by ‘piecemeal’ and tardy decision making over the years.
Andrew Drwiega
The Polish Government through the Armament Inspectorate put in place an ambitious plan to modernise its military forces with a planned investment of around $135 billion (€115 billion) until 2035.
The Government has been eager to sign defence cooperation agreements, recently announcing closer military cooperation with Turkey, Romania, the United States and of course NATO in general. However, its defence procurement plan, though ambitious, has been catalogued by rethinks and delays. It wants to modernise and have a good slice of technology transfer, which it can get in part through industrial partnerships with international primes. The following represents a selection of its recent naval and land programmes.
NAVAL FRIGATES
The Polish Navy has a current requirement for three Swordfish multi-mission coastal defence frigates as defined by its Miecznik programme. This will be managed through the PGZ-Miecznik Consortium which comprises Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, PGZ Stocznia Wojenna and Remontowa Shipbuilding.
At the beginning of August 2021 the three shortlist contenders to go forward to the concept design study were announced as Navantia, Babcock International and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems. According to official sources the intention is that the winning design will be built a the PGZ PGZ Stocznia Wojenna shipyard, Gdynia, through a Technology Transfer (ToT) contract.
Navantia has offered to design the Swordfish around its F-100, of which 13 have been built and versions are in service with the Spanish, Norwegian and Australian navies. The company points to its ToT history citing experiences involving contracts in Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Babcock’s proposal is based on offering its Arrowhead 140 frigate platform, cited as a white and blue water vessel. It would be guided by Team 31 (the industry grouping behind the UK’s Type 31 frigate) which comprises Babcock, Thales, Odense Maritime Technology (OMT) and BMT.
The solution offered by Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) will be its MEKO A-300 PL, a variant of its MEKO frigate family. The company states that it has supplied frigate warship technologies to 19 navies and that “over 50 percent of our exported warships having been built by our customer shipyards.”
The contract winner is scheduled to be announced in 2022 with the first of three ships to be delivered four years after that. All three frigates should be delivered by 2034.
Remontowa Shipbuilding in Gdańsk has been buildng Kormoran II (Cormorant Class) minehunters for the Polish Navy which are being operated in the Baltic and North Seas. The vessels displace 830 tons. Three ships are currently in service - ORP Kormoran (601), ORP Albatros (602) and ORP Mewa (603).
Poland has long identified a need to
find new submarines as it may only have one Kilo-class submarine, ORP Orzel still in commission, although well over 30 years old. This requirement comes under the title of the Okra programme, and has attracted interest from at least three international companies. The Naval Group (ex-DCNS) offering its Scorpene, potentially armed with cruise missiles; Germany’s TKMS has presented its Type 212 for consideration, potentially one already in service in the German fleet; and lastly Sweden’s Saab would offer a variant of its A26. This would be an expensive commitment for the Polish Armament Expectorate with early costs putting the programme at around $3 billion, although by the time a decision is reached the cost is expected to rise above this figure. Delays in making the decision on going forward with the Orka programme mean that the delivery date is uncertain, but now likely to be in the late 2020s.
HEAVY ARMOUR FOR THE ARMY
On Wednesday 14 July the Polish Defence Minister announced that in would acquire 250 M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 tanks from General Dynamics Land Systems at a cost of around $6 billlion. The first deliveries are expected to begin in 2022.
The latest edition of the Adrams is the SEPv3 (System Enhanced Package), which now incorporates additional electrical power, network upgrades, stronger armour and an ammunition data link that is compatible with advanced ammunition.
Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said that the tanks would be stationed “east of the Vistula” to “deter any aggressor” (a thinly veiled reference to Russia - remembering Russia’s pact with Germany during World War Two to jointly invade Poland).
In 2019, the Polish Ministry of National Defence’s ‘Technical Modernisation Plan 2020-2035,’ featured a number of army procurement programmes that included: • the Borsuk programme: a new combat vehicle based on a universal modular tracked chassis to replace the Soviet era BWP-1 vehicle. • the Regina programme: the acquisition of 155mm fire division modules to enhance the fire support capability at the tactical
The Polish Army will receive new Abrams M1A2 SEPV3 tanks, such as this example belonging to the US 3rd Armoured Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division which is conducting a ‘live’ firing exercise at Fort Hood, Texas.
MBDA
level , through Huta Stalowa Wola (HSW). • the continuation of the Homar programme: the potential acquisition of rocket launchers with a range of between 70-300km. • the Ottokar Brzoza programme: the acquisition of tank destroyers for the anti-tank regiment. • the Gladius programme: unmanned ‘loitering mulitions’. • and the Mustang programme; acquiring high-mobility trucks and passenger vehicles to replace Honkers.
AIR DEFENCE
Poland is looking to modernise its shortrange air defence (SHORAD) capability through the Narew programme, which will replace its legacy Soviet-era 2K12 KUB and 9K33 OSA missile systems. The initial requirement was for 19 batteries which will protect both mobile forces and important static sites.
MBDA has been in the competition since 1919 offering its Enhanced Modular Air Defence Solutions (EMADS) system, currently in service with the British Army as Sky Saber. The offer would be to integrate a CAMM iLauncher with a Polish Jelcz 8x8 truck chassis. The proposal includes ToT with both the missile and launcher being built in Poland.
Another offering comes from Raytheon who, back at the MSPO 2019 industry exhibition, announced it would offer a boosterless Skyceptor system. The booster version is entering service in the Polish armed forces as a medium-range air defence system that will work alongside Raytheon’s Patriot missile system.
ALL CHANGE AT THE CORPS: FORCE DESIGN 2030
The plan for the future of the US Marine Corps is contentious and will see a restructuring away from its traditional all-arms employment.
Arevision of the National Defense Strategy in 2018 directed the US Marine Corps (USMC) to shift its mission focus to great/near peer competition with special emphasis on the Indo-Pacific. This follows several decades committed to protracted inland conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq. Incoming Commandant General David H. Berger, to implement this redirection, issued planning guidance CPG-I in July 2019 toward adopting a new operational approach and redesign of the force. Titled Force Design 2030 (FD2030), its primary operational objective is toward building “a light, self-reliant, highly mobile naval expeditionary force postured forward in littoral areas within the adversary’s weapons engagement zone.” These forces will, per FD2030 March 2020, provide “a landward complement to Navy capabilities for surface warfare (ASuW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), air and missile defence, and airborne early warning.”
A driving assumption is that seizing a hostile land area from the sea is no longer possible due to the proliferation of Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2AD) capabilities. Instead the Design proposes the forward insertion (and follow-on support) of small expeditionary Marine elements that rely on speed, stealth, and surprise utilising pre-emptive action. This new focus requires a redirection in the current organisation and equipment of the Corps with the elimination of some units including main battle tanks, while entirely or majorly restructuring others such as shifting from cannon artillery to rockets and missiles. Questioning the appropriateness of current large amphibious ships to this scenario, a parallel expeditionary ship of a different design is proposed for the US Navy. These ships, termed Light Amphibious Warships, are to be “smaller, lower signature, and more affordable”.
FD2030 is being pursued in four Phases. The first sought to establish an overall visualisation of the future force. Phase 2, begun in September 2019, saw 12 Integrated Planning Teams assess and provide force design recommendations regarding Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) reconfiguration, Marine Littoral Regiment design, Maritime Prepositioning Force changes, aviation, logistics, anti-ship and anti-air capabilities, infantry battalion organisation,
Stephen W. Miller
A thing of the past - US Marine Corps M1A1 Abrams tanks hit the beach during Exercise Ssang Yong 14 in South Korea, 3 April, 2014. Force Design 2030 will take heavy armour out of the USMC inventory.
manned-unmanned system balance, objective networks, training and education and the reserves. Phase 3 involves war gaming, experimentation, and analysis while Phase 4 will refine, validate, and implement what has been achieved. It is intended to be a process incorporating lessons learned and findings from on-going efforts.
RESTRUCTURING
Achieving FD2030 means a major restructuring across the Corps including the divestment of ground and air combat and support assets. These include the elimination of all main battle tanks, most cannon artillery, reducing the numbers of amphibious combat vehicles, reductions in the Bell Boeing MV-22 medium, Sikorsky CH-53E heavy, and Bell AH1Z Viper light attack helicopter squadrons, and a review of the fixed wing fleet. The infantry battalion is also undergoing evaluation of its organisation and equipment with three different approaches being trialled.
A new formation is also proposed, the Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR). These will be key to providing the expeditionary forward presence to provide sea control and denial in support of the naval task forces. It will consist of three elements: a Littoral Combat Team (LCT), a Littoral Anti-Air Battalion, and a Littoral Logistics Battalion. The core of the LCT will be an infantry battalion with an anti-ship missile battery. The Anti-Air Battalion will include air defence, air surveillance, air control and aircraft forward rearming and refuelling capabilities. Tactical logistics support will be the task of the Logistics Battalion. The first regiment is scheduled to stand-up in late 2021 in Hawaii as the 3d Marine Littoral Regiment.
ARTILLERY
Marine artillery will play a major role in the proposed concept for sea-denial through land based anti-ship missiles. Much of its BAE Systems M777 towed tube artillery is being replaced by Lockheed Martin M142 HIMARS multiple launch rockets which fire conventional GMLRS rockets to 70 kilometres (44 miles). It also fires the ATACMS to 300km (186 miles), but it is not in the Corps inventory, as well as the latter’s successor the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), still in test, to around 500km. The Corps is moving to add ground launched anti-ship missiles and has test launched the Kongsberg/Raytheon Naval Strike Missile (NSM) already deployed on US Navy ships and used by several NATO militaries in coastal defence batteries. Referred to by the Marines as NMESIS this configuration uses a twin-missile launcher on a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) and adaption of the US Navy fire control system. NSM has a range of over 185km (115 miles) with passive, low-altitude attack, and autonomous target recognition with both sea surface and land attack capability.
The Marines also have an unfunded requirement for Tactical Tomahawk missiles (now manufactured by Raytheon). The latest Block V model Tomahawk can strike a moving target at sea at over 1,600km (nearly 1,000 miles). However, this six-metre-long missile would need to be adapted for expeditionary use (the previous Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM) employed a semi-tractor transporter erector launcher). Providing target detection for missiles with these extended ranges will also present challenges for the envisioned isolated expeditionary enclaves particularly in a signal denied environment.
EXPEDITIONARY AIR DEFENCE
Establishing an adequate anti-air defence should be a priority since air and missile attack, as well as unmanned aerial system (UAS) surveillance and targeting would be a primary response by an opponent to a forward landed presence. Since disbanding its Raytheon Hawk medium range missile batteries in 2002, the only air defence has been the shoulder-launcher short range FIM-92 Stinger. The Marines are now introducing Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) to offer greater point air defence. Two platoons of eight systems each had last been programmed. MADIS Mk1 mounts a four pod Stinger, 30mm auto-cannon, and Sierra Nevada Modi II electronic warfare suite. Its companion is the Mk 2 with a 30km (18 mile) range, RADA Electronics RPS-42 detection and tracking radar, Modi II, and M134 7.62mm minigun. Both use the JLTV platform.
A medium range interceptor capability
is also in consideration. John Garner, PEO Land Systems, suggested in a September 2020 at the virtual Modern Day Marine expo that there would be a “prototype in the next two years”. The Corps is also fielding it’s AN/TPS G/ATOR air surveillance and counter-fire target acquisition radar which would be a critical element in any expeditionary air defence. Thirteen initial production systems are in use with air control and artillery with full rate production of 30 being delivered through 2022.
RECONNAISSANCE
This ability to engage targets at extended ranges requires the capability to detect, identify, track and target threats. The Corps is increasing its UAS assets to four VMU squadrons to address this. In addition, the FD2030 proposes replacing the current Boeing Insitu RQ-21 Blackjack tactical UAS introduced in 2016 with the extended endurance General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper employed by the US Air Force. Reaper has a 20m wingspan and requires a prepared strip for take-off and landing. Its range, however, is 1,900km (1,180 miles) with 14-hour endurance and up to 4,000 pound (1,700kg) payload. The US Navy’s maritime surveillance MQ-4C Triton with a 32+ hour endurance from Northrop Grumman, could also contribute. In addition, the FD2030 April 2021 Update discussed consideration of the Martin V-Bat vertical self-launch/recovery UAS with 11 hours endurance.
The initial FD2030 plan recommended an increase in ground reconnaissance with an additional two companies of Light Armoured Vehicles (LAV). The light armoured units, formed in 1983, have organic direct and indirect fire, anti-tank, dismounts, command and control, logistics, and maintenance recovery assets all with equal mobility and protection. They provide not only forward ground reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance but, with its integrated combined arms, an adaptable mobile armoured manoeuvre force.
In July 2021, the Corps selected Textron Defense and General Dynamics Land Systems to prepare prototypes of an Amphibious Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV) as a possible replacement for the 30-year-old LAV. However, the Commandant’s April 2021 FD2030 update stated efforts had “invalidated the requirement to replace LAV-25 with a similar armoured, wheeled or tracked vehicle on one-to-one ratio.” Questioning the suitability of such vehicles for the reconnaissance role in the Indo-Pacific, the plan then explored possible alternate organisation and equipment toward a “more broadly capable mobile reconnaissance”. This suggests a shift to a strictly reconnaissance role, thus, potentially limiting the battlefield manoeuvre capability offered in the current LAV units.
For mobile reconnaissance the FD2030 suggests the utility of lightweight vehicles, unmanned air and surface systems, boats, the Organic Precision Fires – Infantry (OPF-I) system and other capabilities. In fact, the OPF-I was selected in June 2021 in the form of the UVision Hero-120, a vehicle launched precision loitering munition. The Marines also awarded a contract in February 2021 to Metal Shark to develop a Long-Range Unmanned Surface Vessel (LRUSV). According to the Chris Allard, the company CEO, “it would conduct autonomous surveillance, survey, submarine detection, or mine hunting.” It would also supply manned support vessels for a Marine Corps fleet. How this foray into the surface Navy’s domain or its relationship to the Navy broader unmanned surface systems programs is not addressed.
LIGHT AMPHIBIOUS WARSHIP (LAW)
The US Navy in support of FD2030 proposes a shift from multi-mission amphibious warfare ships designed to support aviation, vertical assault, and wet well deck launch. Instead, it is pursuing a new class, the LAW, that can land smaller numbers of Marines, plus equipment and supplies, directly across a beach using a ramp. Five concept/preliminary design contracts were awarded in June 2021 to Fincantieri, Austral USA, VT Halter Marine, Bollinger, and TAI Engineers. Designs will provide a vessel
