Babcock International, the UK-based aerospace, defence and security company, has been selected as the platform design provider and technology partner for Poland’s ‘MIECZNIK’ (Swordfish) new frigate programme.
In March 2022, the company concluded a set of strategic cooperation agreements with the PGZ-MIECZNIK consortium, which is responsible for delivery of the project from the Polish side.
The Polish Armaments Agency selected Babcock’s Arrowhead 140 (AH140) from three different platform design proposals provided by the PGZ-MIECZNIK Consortium. The proposals were originally down-selected in July 2021.
Babcock and the PGZ-MIECZNIK Consortium will now focus on the detailed design and systems integration planning process, which is expected to conclude in 2022.
The Polish Armaments Agency’s order of three frigates from the consortium led by PGZ under the MIECZNIK programme will provide Poland with the sovereign capability to engage both aerial and naval threats to Polish maritime interests and to support NATO operations.
Babcock will support the PGZ-MIECZNIK consortium for the three AH140 frigates to be built in Polish shipyards by a local workforce, drawing significantly from Polish suppliers and Babcock’s global supply chain.
Following the successful completion of the design phase, Babcock will support the MIECZNIK frigate build in Poland through a design licensing agreement, transferring knowledge and technologies to optimise Poland’s shipbuilding and industrial capabilities.
Poland’s selection of Babcock as the platform design provider for its frigate programme follows decisions by the UK and Indonesia to select the AH140 platform as the basis of their new frigate programmes in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Babcock has been working alongside the UK Government to promote the export variant AH140 frigate, which it describes as ‘interoperable across navies in the global market,’ with a baseline design that is configurable to meet a broad range of naval requirements.
