The Naval Academy in Gdynia will host the Academic Centre for Underwater Technology. It will be a military research and development centre that will also carry out an educational mission. The ground-breaking ceremony for the investment was one of the elements of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of military higher maritime education.

The Westerplatte Heroes’ Naval Academy is a continuation of the Officers’ School of the Polish Navy, established in 1922 and based in Toruń. The foundation stone laying ceremony was attended by the Minister of National Defence, Mariusz Błaszczak.

The centre will be an educational institution at the academic level and a military research and development centre. Ultimately, it is also intended to be a link in the NATO chain supporting the submarine crew and naval diver rescue system. It will be equipped with state-of-the-art research equipment, laboratories and simulators in the field of underwater technology research. This will provide an interdisciplinary scientific and research facility to support the military’s operational activities underwater.

The facility will include a unique research infrastructure: a set of decompression chambers, a 12-metre-deep test pool with a movable bottom, cryochambers, climate chambers for testing diving apparatus, decompression chambers with pressures corresponding to depths of 200 and 500 metres for verifying the design of deep-sea equipment and an outdoor pool as a training ground for underwater work.

The centre will carry out research work related to the technical and medical protection of the human underwater stay and military underwater technologies. It will also conduct a series of specialised training courses for soldiers and officers on military qualifications for supervising and conducting underwater work. The programmes of these training courses will be based on the latest scientific results, ensuring that trainees acquire up-to-date knowledge and improve their professional skills.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński