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Poland Navy
During both the communist and postcommunist eras, the
Polish
navy received less emphasis and funding than other combat
branches. Because the Polish navy had usually purchased
the
simplest and cheapest equipment offered by the Soviet
Union, all
other navies on the Baltic Sea were considered superior to
Poland's. The assigned role of the Polish navy in the
Warsaw Pact
was to provide amphibious landing and mine warfare
capability in
the Baltic Sea; postcommunist restructuring deemphasized
amphibious operations in favor of the navy's fast attack
and
patrol craft components. In 1992 the only short-term
change
envisioned for the navy, however, was retirement of
antiquated
equipment, much of which would not be replaced. To enhance
coastal security, in 1989 military planners proposed
Polish
participation in a regional Baltic defense fleet.
Naval personnel in 1992 totaled 19,300 (including naval
aviation forces), of which 10,600 were conscripts. Total
naval
personnel had dropped from 22,000 since 1981 (see
table 21,
Appendix). Another 1,800 individuals served in the coast
guard,
which operated forty small coastal craft; in wartime that
component would be integrated into naval operations. Naval
bases
were located at Gdynia, Hel (just west of Gdynia), and
winouj cie, with a coast guard and border station at
Kolobrzeg.
The origin and sophistication of Polish naval craft
varies
widely. Of the three Polish submarines existing in the
late 1980,
all built in the Soviet Union, the one Orzel
(corresponding to
the Soviet Kilo model) vessel is the most advanced; two
Wilkclass (Soviet Foxtrot) submarines are older and noisier.
All
three vessels feature 533mm torpedo tubes. Because they
were
designed for ocean combat, the three submarines maneuver
clumsily
in the Baltic Sea in comparison with the smaller
submarines of
the other Baltic nations. One Polish submarine was retired
between 1989 and 1992.
In 1992 Poland had two principal surface combatants.
The
destroyer Warszawa, in the Soviet Kotlin class, was
designed in the 1950s and transferred to Poland from the
Soviet
navy in 1970. The Warszawa displaces 2,850 tons
(3,600
with a full load), is 127.5 meters long, has a top speed
of
thirty-six knots, and carries the following armaments: two
twin
SA-N-1 Goa surface-to-air missile launchers with twenty
missiles
each; four SS-N-2C Styx surface-to-surface missile
launchers; two
antisubmarine rocket launchers; five 533mm torpedo tubes,
twin
130mm guns; four 45mm guns; and eight 30mm guns. The
frigate
Kaszub features two antisubmarine rocket launchers,
four
533mm torpedo tubes, and a 76mm gun. The Kaszub,
manufactured in cooperation with East Germany, was
completed by
the Poles after being left incomplete when German
reunification
occurred.
The twenty patrol and coastal combatants active in 1992
included missile corvettes, missile craft, and patrol
boats. Four
Górnik-type (Soviet Tarantul I) corvettes feature two twin
SS-N-
2C Styx surface-to-surface missile launchers. Designed in
the
Soviet Union in the late 1970s, the corvettes are among
the most
modern elements of the Polish navy. Displacement is 580
tons with
a full load; length is fifty-six meters, maximum speed
thirty-six
knots. Eight Soviet Osa-1 fast patrol craft have four
SS-N-2A
surface-to-surface missile launchers. Full-load
displacement is
210 tons; length is thirty-nine meters, maximum speed
thirty-five
knots. The Osa class, developed by the Soviet Union in the
early
1960s, was considered outmoded by 1990. Poland's eight
Obluze
large inshore patrol craft were built domestically at the
Oksywie
Shipyard in Gdynia using a German design of the early
1960s.
The Polish navy has no specifically designed minelaying
ships, but its Lublin-type landing ships, its submarines,
and its
Krogulec-type minesweepers can perform this function.
Minesweeping ships total twenty-four, in three classes.
The eight
Krogulec coastal minesweepers were built in the 1960s at
the
Gdynia Shipyard; some vessels in this class had already
been
taken out of service by 1991. Notec inshore minesweepers,
a newer
design featuring fiberglass hulls, were still being built
in
Poland in 1992; fourteen were operational that year. Two
Leniwka
inshore minesweepers complete Poland's mine countermeasure
capability.
Six amphibious landing craft were in service in 1992.
All had
been built in Poland; the Pólnocny was a Soviet design.
Five
Lublin-type craft have a capacity of 130 troops and eight
tanks,
and the single Pólnocny craft could transport 180 troops
and six
tanks. The Lublins, introduced in 1989, were the last
major
upgrade of the Polish amphibious capability under the
Warsaw
Pact. The Pólnocny was used as a command ship in 1992.
Three
Deba-type utility landing craft are used, but not for
amphibious
operations. Ten craft serve in support of naval
operations. These
include two intelligence collection vessels, four support
tankers, two survey ships, and two training ships.
The one naval aviation division has received special
attention because its role in coastal reconnaissance,
patrol, and
search-and-rescue was considered an important element of
the new
national defense doctrine. In 1992 this division included
2,300
personnel, thirty-eight MiG-21 fighters, and four armed
helicopters. Although the MiG-21 was considered
inappropriate for
action over the sea, in 1992 experts had little hope for
modernization of the naval air fighter capability. The
division's
one search-and-rescue liaison squadron has three W-3
Sokol, three
Mi-8, and nine Mi-2 helicopters, two AN-2 single-engine
and two
AN-28 two-engine transport planes, and four TS-11 jet
trainers.
In 1991 Poland ordered three W-3RM Anakonda helicopters,
improved
versions of the Soviet Sokol; one was delivered in 1992.
All
Poland's MiG-15 reconnaissance aircraft were withdrawn as
obsolete in 1992; no replacement aircraft were available
at that
time. In 1992 the special naval air regiment included
twelve
Polish-built TS-11s and ten AN-2s; several of the former
were
revised TS-11Rs with upgraded radar and navigation
systems.
Another naval air regiment, designated for antisubmarine
warfare
and search-and-rescue, had eight Mi-2, one Mi-8, and
fifteen Mi14 helicopters. The coastal defense forces included 4,200
personnel manning six artillery batteries with M-1937 guns
(152mm) and three surface-to-surface missile batteries
with SS-C-
2B launchers.
Data as of October 1992
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