ORP Ślązak - the most modern ship of the Polish Navy with the raised flag
The year 2019 is a landmark year for the Navy. On November 28, the anniversary of its founding, a flag raising took place on the ORP Ślązak patrol ship built for it. On this occasion, it is worth noting the ship's Command System, specifically its components, namely the Integrated Navigation System and the Integrated Communications System. Enamor was responsible for the delivery of the aforementioned components, commissioning and sentence in port and sea tests.
- We joined the project when it was already at a certain level of maturity. We realized that it would be a challenge for all parties involved. Today, on the day of the flag raising, we proudly say that we took part in it, were part of it and successfully completed the project," says the President of the Gdynia Company, Maciej Rek.
According to the contract signed with the Inspectorate of Armaments of the Ministry of Defense, within its scope of responsibility, Enamor undertook to provide an Integrated Navigation System with sonar and an Integrated Communications System with cryptographic equipment.
Integrated Navigation System
The Integrated Navigation System has been delivered taking into account Enamor's own products and Raytheon Anschuetz's management software (present on board about a hundred ships of NATO member states), based on years of experience in the field of installation and integration of navigation equipment. In order to achieve the most effective solution for the user, the Integrated Navigation Bridge concept was used. It consists of:
- multifunction consoles for use as an X-band navigation radar respectively
- X-band radar multifunction console for use as a helicopter station
- multifunction console for use as a command post (CONNING) with display of all navigation data
- Multifunction console for use as an EDIS electronic chart system with AML functionality
- TACAN navigation beacon system
In addition, the delivered system, was equipped with repeaters, indicators of navigation sensors such as GPS, LOG, echo sounder and lighting. The ship's time clock, echosounders, electromagnetic logs, MINS inertial system control panel, gyro compass repeaters, WAIS, DGPS were installed in a separate navigation cabinet. To enable, among other things, planning the ship's voyage, one of the multifunction consoles was placed next to the navigation table.
The delivery was made in accordance with IMO requirements, which underscores the attention paid to the safety of the ship and crew.
Integrated Communications System
The integrated communications system proposed by Enamor was based on the requirements of the Polish Navy and the experience gained during the ORKAN program.
- The company's goal was to supply a Polish Navy ship with a modern, proven system that would concentrate compatibility benefits with ORKAN-class vessels, Maciej Rek recalls, explaining why the system, developed by Thales Electronic System GmbH, was offered.
The system has operational characteristics relevant to the NATO environment. These include:
- Centralized Communications Management Systems
- High data rate modems
- Digital signal processing
- Extended/Volume User Terminals
- Automated messaging and communications terminals
In addition, as part of the scope of delivery, on behalf of PGZ Naval Shipyard, Enamor delivered Data Communication Networks with various secrecy clauses. Just how extensive the company's work was on the project can also be seen from the fact that during the program it worked out 65 Technical Agreements with suppliers of Platform Systems and the CMS Integrated Armament System.
The flag raising, however, is not the end of Enamor's cooperation with the Armaments Inspectorate in supplying the ORP Ślązak.
- Ahead of us is a period of several months, during which we will again train users of the systems we have supplied. This is a very important time, during which the recipients will become familiar with the equipment they will be working on every day," adds the CEO when asked if the company has completed its participation in the project.
In the course of the project, Enamor, which is an offset under contracts led by the Ministry of Enterprise and Technology, has become the beneficiary of a number of unique technical and management competencies. What's more, the projects implemented for the Navy, including the ORP Ślązak, allowed the Gdynia-based company to win orders for other NATO navies.
- The references that the work on the ORP Ślązak project has given us have generated great interest among our foreign partners. Thanks to this, we had the opportunity to execute orders also outside the Polish territory," says Maciej Rek when asked about the additional benefits of the project, and then adds that he trusts that the acquired knowledge and competencies of Enamor's employees will also be used during the already planned construction of further vessels for the Polish Navy.
ORP Ślązak, on which the flag will be raised on November 28, will be the most modern and technologically advanced ship in the entire Polish Navy fleet.
