Tusk made the remarks during a visit to a naval shipyard in the Baltic port of Gdynia, where he met with workers involved in building the frigate ORP Wicher, the first of three multi-role frigates being built for the Polish Navy under the Miecznik (Swordfish) programme.
"Today we can say that Polish shipbuilding, both civilian and military, is a source of pride," Tusk said. "These are thousands of jobs, cutting-edge technologies and major investment projects."
He said two more frigates, the ORP Burza and ORP Huragan, would be built under the programme in the near future.
The three-frigate Miecznik programme has a total value of PLN 15 billion (EUR 3.5 billion, USD 4 billion), Tusk said.
The prime minister highlighted the involvement of Polish companies in building the ORP Wicher.
'We will be a maritime power'
"We will be—and I do not hesitate to use this word—a maritime power, also in military terms," Tusk said.
He added that a potential aggressor would think twice before taking hostile action given Poland's naval capabilities, including the ORP Wicher and other ships under construction, as well as submarines planned under the Orka programme.
Tusk said the investment was necessary to protect Poland's infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, including ports, a planned nuclear power plant and offshore energy installations.
"The rebirth of our fleet—all of this means we must treat the Baltic as our Polish sea, which also requires defence," he said.
Tusk spoke shortly before a ceremony to christen and name the ORP Wicher, attended by President Karol Nawrocki and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. The frigate's launch was scheduled for Thursday.
The Miecznik programme calls for three multi-purpose frigates that will form the backbone of Poland's naval fleet, replacing its aging Oliver Hazard Perry-class vessels. The programme is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2031.
The frigates are based on Britain's Arrowhead 140 design, adapted to Polish military requirements.
The programme is being carried out by the PGZ Miecznik consortium under the state-owned Polish Armaments Group (PGZ), with foreign partners including Britain's Babcock, which owns the ship design.
One of the frigates' main roles will be air defence. They will be equipped with British CAMM and CAMM-ER surface-to-air missile launchers, as well as guns with a range of up to 40 kilometres and anti-ship missiles capable of striking targets more than 200 kilometres away.
The contract for the frigates was signed in 2021 between the Armament Agency and the PGZ Miecznik consortium. Its initial value was around PLN 8 billion (USD or EUR 1.9 billion, USD 2.2 billion), but subsequent revisions increased it to around PLN 15 billion.
The backbone of the Polish Navy’s surface fleet now consists of two Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates, the ORP Gen. T. Kościuszko and ORP Gen. K. Pułaski. Both entered service with the US Navy in 1980 and were transferred to Poland in 2000 and 2002 respectively.
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Source: IAR/PAP