In the mid-1980s land component of the Polish amphibious assault forces still consisted of the
7 Łużycka Dywizja Desantowa (
7 ŁDD, 7th Lusatian Landing Division). Elevation of Mikhail Gorbachov to the position of the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985 started gradual improvement in East-West relations. Sign of this improvement was renaming of the
7 ŁDD into
7 Łużycka Brygada Obrony Wybrzeża (
7th Lusatian Coastal Defence Brigade) in 1986. This change was done purely for purpose of downplaying offensive task of the unit, as its internal structure and training remained completely unchanged.
More significant changes occured in 1989, when division's regiments were reduced to batallions,
11 Batalion Czołgów Pływających (11th Batallion of Amphibious Tanks) and
41 Dywizjon Artylerii (41st Artillery Batallion) were disbanded (though tanks in landing batallions remained) while staff, security and communications companies were merged into
7 Batalion Dowodzenia (
7th Command Batallion). Starting from the next year, unit's purpose has also changed (corresponding with withdrawal of majority of landing ships from service) to coastal defence units (not just in name, but in actual purpose).
That period of unit's history lasted until 1995, when serviceability periods of PT-76 and TOPAS armored vehicles expired, forcing their retirement. That led to decision to disband the brigade, and use it as the base to form reserve
1 Gdańska Brygada Obrony Terytorialnej (
1 GBOT, 1st Territorial Defence Brigade of Gdańsk).
1 GBOT itself was reformed in 2007 into
1 Gdański Batalion Obrony Terytorialnej (
1st Territorial Defence Batallion of Gdańsk), which in turn was reformed year later into active
1 Lęborski Batalion Zmechanizowany (
1st Mechanized Batallion of Lębork).
In the early 1980s landing ships of the Pr.770/771 types were nearing 20 years of service, and therefore time was coming to find their replacements. In 1984 an official decision was made regarding modernization of the amphibious forces until 1995, during which period it was supposed to achieve significant increase in transport capability (up to 180-212 vehicles in one cruise). These plans called for building of:
-12 medium landing ship Pr. 767
Brzegówka (
Sand Martin);
-4 fire support ships Pr.768
Orłosęp (
Bearded Vulture);
-1 landing command ship Pr.769
Jarząbek (
Hazel Grouse);
-20 small landing ships, each capable of carrying 3-4 vehicles;
-12 landing cutters Pr.716
Droździk (
Redwing).
Improving international situation in late 1980s, political changes in Poland after 1989 and later the end of Cold War led to downsizing and reorganization of Polish amphibious forces. As mentioned earlier, Pr.709 small landing craft were decommisioned between 1987 and 1990, Pr.770 medium landing ships between 1989 and 1990 while majority of Pr.771 medium landing ships between 1990 and 1991. At the same time, in 1990,
2 Brygada Okrętów Desantowych (2 BOD, 2nd Landing Ships Brigade) was renamed
2 Brygada Okrętów Transportowo-Minowych (
2 BOTM, 2nd Transport-Mine Ships Brigade) and ultimately, in 1995, into
2 Dywizjon Okrętów Transportowo-Minowych (
2 DOTM, 2nd Transport-Mine Ships Squadron), still under
8 Flotylla Obrony Wybrzeża (
8th Coastal Defence Flotilla) in Świnoujście.
First vessels to be build under this program were landing cutters Pr.716
Droździk (
Redwing, NATO code:
Deba). First unit was launched in november 1987 and commissioned in august 1988, with two more units being commissioned in january and may 1991, respectively. End of Cold War and reductions of the Polish amphibious forces (together with whole armed forces) resulted in these three cutters being only ones commissioned into the Polish Navy, and together with renaming of their parent formation (
2 BOTM/2 DOTM) they were also reclassified as transport cutters.
Only other class of ships built under the 1984 program were medium landing ships Pr.767
Brzegówka (
Sand Martin, NATO code: initially
Bal-Com-11, later changed to
Lublin, corresponding to actual name of the first ship). They were modern, but somehow unusual ships, characterized by their capability to be "joined" one behind the other, creating long "tunnel" for the carried vehicles along whole length. These ships are capable of carrying up to 9 T-72 main battle tanks or up to 17 trucks or smaller armored vehicles like BRDM-2, or - in minelayer role - two mine rails with up to 134 naval mines.
First ship of the class was launched in july 1988 and commissioned in october 1989, while the fifth ship was launched in june 1990 and commissioned in may 1991. All ships were named after significant Polish cities. The same reasons that cut short the production run of Pr.716 cutters led to cancellation of Pr.767's production after only 5 ships. Shortly after first three ships entered service,
2 BOD was renamed into
2 BOTM, which in turn led to reclassification of these ships into "transport-mine(laying) ships".