The gun that came back. ORP Albatros minehunter receives its definitive OSU-35K weapon system

Days before the launching of the frigate Wicher, PGZ Naval Shipyard has completed an operation that closes an unusual chapter in the story of Poland's minehunter fleet. On 28 July 2026 the yard installed the definitive OSU-35K naval weapon system on ORP Albatros (602). Definitive, because the ship's previous gun left the deck for dry land, where it served as the basis for a demonstrator of an anti-drone air defence system.

security business investments navy pomerania defense industry equipment and technology tricity news army

29 july 2026   |   07:28   |   Source: Gazeta Morska   |   Prepared by: Kamil Kusier   |   Print

fot. PGZ Stocznia Wojenna

Installation at the Gdynia quayside

The completed operation was announced by PGZ Naval Shipyard. - On the minehunter ORP Albatros (602) we have installed the artillery system OSU-35K, the definitive fit for this vessel - the yard stated, stressing that work on ships already in service with the Polish Navy is running in parallel with preparations for the launching of Wicher, the first frigate of the Miecznik programme.

ORP Albatros is the second vessel of the Kormoran II class and the first series-production ship of the programme. She was commissioned in November 2022 and joined the 13th Minesweeper Squadron of the 8th Coastal Defence Flotilla in Gdynia. Built of non-magnetic steel, the ship carries the SCOT-M combat management system, a sonar suite and a set of underwater vehicles, with the OSU-35K as her principal armament, supplemented by 12.7 mm heavy machine guns and mounts for man-portable air defence missiles.

A naval gun with a career ashore

A careful observer will ask: did Albatros not have her gun already? She did, and this is where the most interesting thread of the story begins. As Defence24 recalls, Albatros and her sister Mewa received their OSU-35K systems after construction, and as part of interchangeability trials the AM-35K guns were even swapped between the two ships. Later, however, the system disappeared from Albatros's deck. Its producer, PIT-Radwar, used it to build a demonstrator of the land-based SA-35 variant, mounted on a Jelcz truck chassis. The SA-35 gun was subsequently selected as an element of a battery-level air defence system designed to counter unmanned aerial vehicles.

In practice, this means the naval 35 mm gun became the starting point for a solution addressing one of the most pressing challenges of the modern battlefield: the mass use of drones. For a time, the price of that sea-to-land technology transfer was paid by Albatros herself, deprived of her principal means of self-defence. Monday's installation closes that gap: the ship has received a system assigned to her permanently.

What the OSU-35K is

The OSU-35K is a remotely controlled, stabilised, multi-purpose close-in artillery system. It comprises the AM-35K 35 mm automatic gun, the ZGS-35K integrated observation and tracking head, the BSKO-35K fire control unit and the RSKO-35K reserve fire control station. The system was designed to operate both with the ship's combat management system and fully autonomously, day and night, in any conditions in which the vessel itself can operate.

Thanks to the extensive use of carbon fibre, the complete system weighs around three tonnes, which allows installation even on small platforms sensitive to weight and to the loads generated during firing. The OSU-35K is designed to detect and engage aircraft, helicopters, missiles and drones, as well as unarmoured and lightly armoured surface and land targets.

The system was developed by a consortium comprising the Military University of Technology (leader), the Polish Naval Academy, PIT-Radwar and Zakłady Mechaniczne Tarnów, with the participation of the Polish Navy. It is an entirely Polish solution, from concept through design to production and integration.

Three companies, one programme

Monday's operation is also an occasion to recall how roles are divided within the Kormoran II programme. The minehunters are built by a consortium led by Remontowa Shipbuilding, with PGZ Naval Shipyard and OBR CTM as partners. As the Gdynia yard lists, its share of the work covers the delivery, installation, commissioning and trials of the ships' advanced systems: the navigation and technical observation system, the integrated communications and crypto system, IT networks and the weapon systems, including the OSU-35 gun. The system itself is supplied by the consortium headed by PIT-Radwar, with PGZ Naval Shipyard responsible for its installation and integration on board.

- Kormoran II and Miecznik are two separate programmes, but they share the same feature: they are being delivered through the cooperation of Polish companies for the maritime security of Poland - PGZ Naval Shipyard stresses.

Next in line: Jaskółka

The programme moves on. According to Defence24, PIT-Radwar holds orders for OSU-35K systems for three further Project 258 minehunters and for the three Miecznik frigates, with two systems per frigate. In the autumn of 2026 an OSU-35K is due to be installed on Jaskółka (604), which Remontowa Shipbuilding is shortly to hand over to the Polish Navy.

Kormoran II thus remains one of the most numerous series of combat vessels currently under construction for the Polish Navy, and a rare example in Polish conditions of a programme in which series production is beginning to deliver tangible benefits: repeatability, a proven supply chain and growing integration competence on the yard's side.

All eyes on Wicher, but the fleet wants more

The timing of the operation is symbolic. The coming weeks at PGZ Naval Shipyard will be dominated by preparations for the launching of Wicher, the first of three frigates of the Miecznik programme, the largest undertaking in the history of Polish naval shipbuilding. The communiqué on the Albatros work therefore also reads as a signal: the yard wants to be seen not only through the prism of the frigates, but as a facility capable of running new construction and in-service support in parallel.

From the Polish Navy's perspective, this is precisely the model the fleet needs for the coming decades: a domestic industry whose role does not end on commissioning day, but which accompanies a ship throughout her life cycle, from weapon installation through modernisation to repairs. The story of Albatros's gun shows something more: technologies developed for the fleet can feed the capabilities of the armed forces as a whole. The 35 mm gun returning to the minehunter's bow today already has a land-based sister aimed at drones.

Buy us a coffee, and we’ll invest in great maritime journalism! Support Gazeta Morska and help us sail forward – click here!

ORP Albatros OSU-35K Kormoran II PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Marynarka Wojenna RP

comments

---

enter content

COMMENT

nick

Add the first comment