| |
|||
| a | |||
Naval
Forces News - Poland |
|||
Polish MoD Announces Orka Submarine Programme Funding this Year, Seeking
Cruise Missiles |
|||
Our colleagues from polish website Defence24
are reporting that Polish Ministry of Defence confirmed the fact that
funds allocated to the purchase of a bew type of submarines, are already
reserved. However, it is during the 4th quarter of this year, when the
Polish Ministry is going to start the analyses regarding review of documentation,
which in turn will become a basis for initiation of the proceedings. |
|||
 Submarine laucnhed variant of MBDA's Naval Cruise Missile. Picture: MBDA/DGA |
|||
Information
related to the submarines has been published as a response to the MP
intervention no. 30891 submitted by MP Artur Górski “…regarding
the plans of the Ministry of Defence related to acquisition of three
submarines for Poland, armed with cruise missiles”. Response is
even more important, due to the fact that, forr the first time, the
Polish Ministry of Defence, in an organized manner, has released information
regarding the Orka programme (Submarine of a New Type). For more details, read the Defence24 article. |
 Scorpene SSK fitted with NCM would provide the deterrent capability wanted by Poland |
|||
In
addition, Reuters reported that Poland's Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak
said on Thursday he has asked the United States whether the European nation
could buy Raytheon's Tomahawk missiles for its new submarines. "One
of the capabilities we want them (the submarines) to have is cruise missiles,"
Siemoniak told public radio, following a report by daily newspaper Dziennik
Gazeta Prawna. France is already proposing the DCNS Scorpene submarine fitted with MBDA's Naval Cruise Missile. The specific conditions of the Baltic Sea are favourable for the use of submarines and make them very difficult to detect, unlike land and air platforms for launching deterrent weapons. The ability to operate underwater for several weeks, provided by air-independent propulsion systems, in particular, makes undetectable and omnipresent modern submarines the most effective carriers of cruise missiles. The Scorpène has been designed to carry the MdCN naval cruise missile. Cruise missile submarines, such as the Scorpène built by DCNS, have an effective offensive weapon system able to provide the deterrent capability wanted by Poland. This deterrence does not require a large number of missiles. The important factor is the ability to strike critical targets, with a high probability of success, within a radius of several hundred kilometres around the waters in which submarines can hide. No other weapon system can provide this capability. Cruise missile operation capability must be integrated into submarines at the design stage, and this is the case for the Scorpène configuration proposed to the Polish Navy by DCNS. The missiles have been developed by defence group MBDA for the French armed forces. The missiles are scheduled to enter service in 2015. The MdCN cruise missile can strike distant land targets with very high precision, thanks to its guidance system, reducing the risk of collateral damage. Another contender for the Orka programme is Germany TKMS U-212A submarine. It is not clear at this stage how Tomahawk cruise missiles would or even could be fitted in this class. Another option could be to fit Kongsberg's Naval Strike Missile in a submarine launched variant. We revealed existence of the project during our coverage of Balt Military Expo last year. |
|||
