Selection of the tenderer in the ORKA programme. Real State gravity test — Part 2

In the second part of my opinion we enter the level of concrete: I look at the Spanish offer S-80 and Hanwha Ocean's proposals – two directions, which not only give Poland new submarines, but also build the permanent competences of our industry. It is here that it is decided whether Orka will only be a large purchase of equipment, or a decision that will introduce Polish shipyards and the Navy of Poland into a completely new league.

Before I go to the offers themselves, I want to emphasise one thing, because I see what doubts are regularly coming back on the X platform. Industry portals, including mine, cooperate with maritime companies — It's a fact that was never a secret. However, this text, like the entire cycle devoted to the Ork programme, was created solely on my initiative. Neither the Spaniards nor the Koreans who bought my commercials knew about its preparation. No one suggested the content, no one consulted me with any expectations.

The only element that comes directly from the bidders is the hard technical data – like the weapons set provided to me by the Korean side. The rest are my observations and my responsibility for the words. And since we're talking about a decision to define Polish security for decades, this is what I think it should look like.

You're welcome to read.

Spanish shipbuilding company Navantia – S-80 and tempting industrial offer

The Spanish proposal has something in it that is difficult to find in the world's ship programs today: a real pace, real production and real ships that I saw being built in shipyards with my own eyes. Three S-80 units are being built simultaneously in Cartagena, and this is for a country like Poland – which I need ships for now, not in a decade. – is an exceptionally strong argument. For me personally, Spain today has the closest offer to what we lack most: predictability and delivery time. For the Polish state, it is also one of the most attractive options, although – as always in the Ork programme – much depends on whether both sides want to enter a real partnership, and not just buy a finished hull.

The Spanish attack is obvious: they Now. They build what Poland proposes. The S-80 program entered a mature production phase, subsequent units undergo baptism and sea trials, and the shipyard in Cartagena maintains full rhythm of work. This is not a project from the board, but an assembly line that could, if both sides wanted to do so, provide the Polish Navy with a new ship faster than any other offer in this proceeding. It is not a secret that the Polish State is facing the risk of a long-term underwater gap, Spain could fill it – but only if Warsaw was ready to really take this conversation and Madrid was ready to close it. It is worth remembering something that surprisingly often goes silent in this proceeding – Poland has a war behind its eastern border and growing threats in the Baltic. In such realities, not only the parameters of the ship are important, but the pace, predictability and readiness for real interaction. And that's what Spain's doing today.

Read more: Are Spanish S-80 submarines a good proposition for Poland?

There is another element that, as with the Korean offer, although perhaps slightly less, distinguishes the Spaniards from the rest of the rate: the approach to industrial cooperation. From the first day, Navantia emphasizes that Poland is not to be a client at the counter, but a partner at the table. This can be seen in every conversation and every passage of the presentation: from integration of Polish shipyards, training and simulators 1:1, to the readiness to transfer key technical competences related to the AIP on the S-83 ship and combat systems created jointly with Lockheed Martin. Importantly, the Spanish Navy, like the German Navy, moves its submarine fleet for NSM missiles. This is an offer that gives Poland not only a ship, but a real participation in technology and weapons that builds European deterrence. And in this case, it's rare.

However, one thing has to be said honestly: Spain also has its weaknesses, has a difficult history of the program and needs a partner who will not enter into this cooperation "to try". This must be a bold, symmetrical and conscious decision, because the S-80 is a serious, demanding and built ship for long patrols far from the coast. But when I was at Carthage shipyards, I saw with my own eyes, as S-81 went out into the sea, as The S-82 is launched, as sections S-83 and S-84 grow and as in the eyes of the people of Navantii you can see authentic pride, I feel that this is an offer that gives Poland something that others do not offer: a reliable calendar and readiness to work together. And on the Ork program, time is more valuable than steel today.

Why Hanwha Ocean's proposal could be a breakthrough for PolandThis?

The Koreans are special to me. This may sound too personal, but for the man who has the word "stock" in the name of his portal, Hanwha Ocean's proposal has the same authenticity as the Spanish offer from Cartagena: no appearance, but a sea of concretes. When Europeans show slides, Koreans show schedules, people, processes, production lines and a list of investments ready to be transferred to Poland. Their whole philosophy is: You don't want to buy a ship, you want to buy a ship. – and it felt in every conversation.

The most striking thing is what is still missing in Europe: the full, serious treatment of the Polish shipbuilding industry as a partner, not a receiver. Hanwha Ocean has been saying the same thing since the first day – the ship is only the beginning, the core is industry, competence and independence of the fleet. And here's a quote I remembered:

The purchasing State must be able to keep it in its own shipyards without waiting for the help of other states. 

For me – a man who sees the real situation of our shipyards – this sentence is not marketing. This is a strategy that no one in Poland has ever really offered us.

The Koreans learned a lesson from their own history, which is often misunderstood in Europe: dependence on foreign subcontractors is fatal to the modernisation of the state. Therefore, they propose Poland not only a ship KSS-III Batch-II, but the whole ecosystem – a common MRO centre, technology transfer, workplaces, crew training and engineers, and even a bridge vessel of type KSS-Iwhich could restore Poland Underwater capabilities Sooner than anyone predicted. This is one of the few real solutions "for now", not for 2035. And I say it consciously, looking at the Navy situation without any illusions.

This is an exceptional offer also because the Koreans act like a country that itself had to fight for your safety: predictable timetables, technological rigor and focus on ensuring that the partner is not dependent on anyone. Seong-Woo Park, Vice President of Hanwha Ocean responsible for the Orka programme stated this in one sentence, which should be printed and hung in the cabinets of all decision-makers:

Once the agreed schedule is valid throughout the contract, without annexes.

The Korean KSS-III Batch-II distinguishes itself by the fact that its weaponry is not a collection of single effectors, but a complete system of conducting underwater, water and land combat. The base is a heavy 533 mm Tiger Shark torpedo K-761, launched with six bow launchers and designed to combat both submarines and submarines. With the same launchers, the Koreans integrate the Haeseong-line SLCM maneuvering and anti-ship missiles, capable of precise destruction of navigating targets and selected land targets.

Smart mobile SLMM mines are used for offensive mine activities, which, when launched from a torpedo launcher, occupy a programmed position and act as autonomous regional mines. The package complements land-based seamines for the adversaries, allowing traditional minesteads to be built. However, the most powerful element is the conventional Hyunmoo-4-4 ballistic missile, launched from a 10-chamber K-VLS module, providing deep impact capability for key land purposes.

The Koreans therefore offer not only a submarine, but a full range of means of destruction — from torpedoes and mines to maneuvering and ballistic long range missiles — What no one is giving in Europe today.

For Poland, this is not another proposal in the Orka catalogue. It is an attempt to invite us to a completely different industrial league – one in which we will finally not only buy equipment, but will learn how to build, maintain and develop it. And that is why – I write it privately – the Korean direction I consider to be one of the two most authentic and closest to what the Polish Orka should be.

Tomorrow, on the other hand, I invite you to the third part of my subjective opinion – about the bids that best divide public opinion and bring both enormous potential and equally serious question marks.

Mariusz Dasiewicz