Poland launched its first new frigate as defence giants spend billions acquiring undersea warfare capabilities across the globe.
ORP Wicher, the first of three frigates planned under Poland’s Miecznik modernisation programme, slid into Gdansk Bay earler this week. Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Prime Minister Donald Tusk attended the christening. Mr Nawrocki noted that the programme’s launch in 2021 had been crucial for Poland’s domestic shipbuilding industry.
“With well-calibrated public finances and a strong Polish budget, we managed to create a project that sets a benchmark for the coming years and decades,” Mr Nawrocki said.
Below the surface
The Miecznik-class frigates will replace Poland’s obsolete Oliver Hazard Perry-class vessels and form the backbone of its surface strike forces. Their missions will include defending naval installations and safeguarding critical infrastructure, such as wind farms, communications lines, and the Baltic Pipe, which carries natural gas from the North Sea to Poland. The vessels will also perform maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, air defence missions, and support for amphibious operations.
Mr Nawrocki stressed that the Russian Baltic Fleet and Russia’s militarised Kaliningrad exclave on Poland’s northern border require constant vigilance. “The Polish Navy should use the best equipment in the world, and that is what we have before us today,” he added.
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ORP Wicher now enters outfitting and systems integration. Delivery to the Polish Navy is due in 2029. Work on the second frigate—ORP Burza—is ongoing; its launch is planned for September 2027. Construction of the third, ORP Huragan, began symbolically in April. Programme completion is scheduled for the end of 2031.
Poland’s push on the surface reflects a broader shift in maritime defence. On July 6, three large acquisitions landed almost simultaneously, all focused on the domain beneath the waves. Lockheed Martin announced it would spend $3.5bn to buy undersea specialist Ultra Maritime.
Mines, cables, and drones
French company Thales announced the purchase of a 36 per cent stake in Exail Technologies, with long-term plans to acquire the firm entirely at an implied $4.5bn enterprise valuation. Italy’s Fincantieri announced a nearly $700m investment in four maritime drone and undersea engineering firms.
Writing in Breaking Defense, Aleksandar Jovović and Katy Buda of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) argue that the acquisitions reflect mounting threats in the undersea domain. China has used surface and subsea sensors to map the ocean floor. That project involved at least 42 research vessels over five years. US Vice Admiral Richard Seif has described China’s efforts as developing an ‘underwater Great Wall’ of sensors, uncrewed systems, and data fusion capabilities designed to detect and track undersea assets.
Undersea mines remain a key asymmetrical capability for smaller nations. — Aleksandar Jovović, Katy Buda, CSIS
Russia presents a separate challenge. It has used its GUGI submarine fleet and uncrewed undersea capabilities to target cables and pipelines at depths that only the United States can match. Mr Jovovic and Ms Buda note that mines compound the picture. “Undersea mines remain a key asymmetrical capability for smaller nations,” they write. “A core tool in hybrid warfare, mines can shift the balance of power and provide leverage to foes weak and strong alike.”
Primes go shopping
The Strait of Hormuz illustrates the point. Virtually no American or allied mine counter-measure capabilities were available to address Iran’s mine-laying operation there. The scale of deployed mines in the Strait remains unknown to this day. Ukraine’s performance against Russia’s Black Sea fleet has further underscored the capabilities of unmanned naval systems.
The three July deals share a common logic. Exail Technologies had just reported revenue growth of 40 per cent in the first quarter of 2026. The firm, with roughly 1,600 employees, is best known for its subsea solutions and mine countermeasures. It had already attracted interest from France’s Safran before Thales moved.
Ultra Maritime brings Lockheed Martin a portfolio spanning torpedo and sonar technologies, radar, electronic warfare, and sonobuoys. The firm has a presence across the Five Eyes countries and employs 2,000 people. Notably, this is Lockheed’s first financially significant acquisition since it bought rotorcraft maker Sikorsky in 2015 — a deal that fundamentally reshaped its portfolio.
The bigger picture
Fincantieri is buying four firms: Next Geosolutions, WSense, Graal Tech, and Defcomm. Next Geosolutions provides maritime mapping services. WSense monitors pipelines and cables via subsea wireless systems. Graal Tech builds autonomous underwater vehicles and robotic technologies. Defcomm provides satellite communications for autonomous vessels. Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Folgiero had signalled the direction. “We are very serious about growing underwater capabilities,” Mr Folgiero told Breaking Defense, comparing the potential market to the space sector.
We are very serious about growing underwater capabilities. — Pierroberto Folgiero, Fincantieri
The July deals follow a pattern of established players buying specialist firms rather than backing start-ups. They echo Bollinger’s 2022 acquisition of VT Halter Marine, Leidos’ 2021 acquisition of Gibbs & Cox, and the 2020 HII acquisition of the REMUS autonomous underwater vehicle product line from Norway’s Kongsberg.
Mr Jovovic and Ms Buda draw the threads together. “The July spree from Lockheed Martin, Thales and Fincantieri is a welcome pivot to a critical undersea warfighting domain that has grown in prominence,” they write in Breaking Defense. All of this points in the same direction. Governments and industry have reached similar conclusions, on similar timelines, about where the next contest at sea will be fought.
