Naval Group establishes third Greek FDI

The future formation was officially laid down on 15 April at the Naval Group shipyard in Lorient. Assembly has thus begun in the form of site construction, where assembly of the hull of the second Greek IDF, Nearchos, is being completed with a view to launch in the second half of this year. The integrated mast (PSIM) has already been transferred to the site’s land test site for a test and development period of five months. At the end, the structure will go on board the frigate in the days after its exit from the construction form.

By the end of 2024, the Hellenic Navy’s first frigate, Kimon, which is currently being completed afloat, will begin its sea trials with a view to delivery in 2025, with the two twins expected to follow by 2026. To meet these deadlines, the Naval Group redeployed to Greece, by agreement with the French government, the hull that was to be the future Admiral Louzeau, the second of the five French FDIs including the top seed, Admiral Ronarc’h, must begin its sea trials by the summer with a view to delivery to the French Navy at the beginning of 2025. A building that was built about a year late, mainly due to recruitment problems that have now been resolved according to the Naval Group, which continues its rise in power to be able to deliver two FDI per year from 2025 .After Admiral Ronarc’h, FDI 1, FDI 2 and FDI 3 will therefore go to Greece, while FDI 4 will be the second French unit, Admiral Louzeau, which can now be delivered in 2027 The other three tricolor frigates (Amiral Castex, Amiral Nomy and Amiral Cabanier) must at this stage enter the fleet in 2028, 2031 and 2032, these dates are nevertheless dependent on possible export orders.

View of the future Greek IDF.

121.6 meters long with a width of 17.7 meters and a displacement that will reach around 4,500 tons fully loaded, the Greek IDF will be able to reach a speed of 27 knots and accommodate up to 150 sailors on board. Equipped with a Sea Fire multifunction radar with four fixed panels and active antenna, a Kingklip Mk2 hull sonar and a Captas-4 towed sonar, these frigates will be able to deploy 8 Exocet MM40 Block3C anti-ship missiles, 32 surface-to-air missiles Aster 15 and Aster 30, a short-range RAM surface-to-air system, a 76 mm turret, two 20 mm remote-controlled guns, four MU90 torpedo tubes, an MH-60R helicopter and a Camcopter S-100 aerial drone. Sensors and weapons will be managed by the Naval Group’s SETIS 3.0 battle direction system.

– See our full report produced in spring 2023 on the IDF construction site

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