Orkan-class fast attack craft

ORP Grom
Class overview
Builders:	VEB Peenewerft, Wolgast Northern Shipyard, Gdańsk
Operators:	Polish Navy
In service:	1992-present
Active:	3
General characteristics
Type:	Fast Attack Craft
Displacement:	369 tonnes
Length:	48.90 m (160 ft 5 in)
Beam:	8.65 m (28 ft 5 in)
Draft:	2.15 m (7 ft 1 in)
Propulsion:	3 diesel M520 engines 3970 kW each
Speed:	36 knots (67 km/h/41 mph)
Range:	3,000 km (1,620 NM)
Complement:	33
Sensors and processing systems:	Sea Giraffe 3-D radar, STING EO fire control radar
Armament:	8 × RBS-15 Mk. III anti-ship missiles (ships often carry just 4 missiles) 1 × 76 mm (3.00 in) AK-176M gun 1 × AK-630 30 mm (1.2 in) gun Close-in weapon system 1 × 4-rail Strela 2M launcher 2 x WKM-Bm 12.7 mm Heavy Machine Gun posts

The Orkan class or projekt 660 (Sassnitz class in NATO code) is series of three fast attack craft of the Polish Navy, in service since 1992.

History

The original project was prepared by the German Democratic Republic for its navy and was named Project 660, it also received the NATO reporting name "Sassnitz". After the Unification of Germany the unfinished hulls were bought by the Polish Navy from VEB Peenewerft shipyard in Wolgast and successfully completed by Northern Shipyard in Gdańsk.

In 2006 Ministry of Defence ordered 36 RBS-15 Mk 3 anti-ship missiles to equip the ships. Since 2007 they carried RBS-15 Mk 2 missles as interim arnament.^[1] RBS-15 Mk 3 missiles vere first deployed in 2014.^[2] Since 2015 OORP Orkan^[3] and Piorun went through 19 months mid-life refit.^[4]

List of ships

Pennant number	Name	Commissioned
421	Orkan	18 September 1992
422	Piorun	11 March 1994
423	Grom	28 April 1995

The lead ship of the class is named Orkan (Polish: Hurricane), while other two ships are Piorun (Polish: Thunderbolt) and Grom (Polish: Thunderclap). Piorun and Grom were famous Polish destroyers of the Second World War. Orkan was to have been the first destroyer constructed in Poland, but her construction was interrupted by the start of the World War II.

Gallery

• 
  Orkan before modernisation
• 
  Piorun
• 
  Grom in 2008 armed with 8 RBS-15 Mk2
• 
  Grom in 2011, armed with 4 RBS-15 Mk2

References

1. Umowa na dostawę rakiet SAAB RBS 15 Mk3 dla Marynarki Wojennej. 18 October 2006 (Polish).
2. Dłuższe ręce MW. 21 January 2015 (Polish)
3. http://dziennikzbrojny.pl/aktualnosci/news,1,9236,aktualnosci-z-polski,dwa-lata-na-remont-orp-orkan-potem-modernizacja
4. http://dziennikzbrojny.pl/aktualnosci/news,1,9480,aktualnosci-z-polski,nauta-wyremontuje-orp-piorun

• "okręty rakietowe projektu 660, typu Orkan (NATO: Sassnitz)." (in Polish). Polish Navy. Retrieved 3 August 2011.