The French shipbuilding group Naval Group announced that on November 14, 2025, it signed a contract with the General Directorate of Defense Investments and Armaments of Greece (GDDIA) for the construction of the fourth frigate of the FDI HN project of the French type FDI (Frégates de Défense et d'Intervention) for the Greek Navy. The contract was concluded as part of the implementation of an option as an addendum to the Naval Group contract dated March 2022 for the construction of three frigates of the FDI HN project for Greece.
The first two frigates of the type FDI (Frégates de Défense et d'Intervention) built by the French shipbuilding group Naval Group for testing at sea. In the foreground is the head frigate F 601 Kimon (ΚΙΜΩΝ) designed by FDI HN for the Greek Navy, in the background is the head frigate D 660 Amiral Ronarc'h for the French Navy. 2025 (c) Naval Group
The parameters of the additional contract have not been officially announced, but in September 2025, the Greek parliament approved the allocation of 922 million euros for a contract with the Naval Group for the implementation of an option to purchase the fourth frigate of the FDI HN project in a modified Belharra Standard 2++ design (for which 810 million euros are allocated), as well as for work on improvements to this standard. The first three frigates ordered under the 2022 contract in the basic version of Belharra Standard 1. It was also approved to allocate 60 million euros to conclude a contract with Naval Group to extend the period of technical support for frigates of this type in the Greek Navy. The contract for the fourth frigate provided for offset obligations from the French side in the amount of 200 million euros in favor of Greek defense enterprises. Missile armament is not included in the contract for the fourth frigate.
The fourth frigate ordered by Greece was named F 600 Themistocles ("Themistocles", Θεμιστοκλής). It is reported that, in fact, the first steel cutting for it was carried out at the Naval Group arsenal in Lorian on June 30, 2025, and its delivery to the Greek Navy is scheduled for December 2028. The completion of all frigates to the Belharra Standard 2++ standard should be carried out in three stages (up to the Belharra Standard 2, Belharra Standard 2+ and Belharra Standard 2++ configurations) mainly in Greece and should be completed for the first three ships in 2029, and for Themistocles in March 2030. Different configuration stages mean the gradual refinement of a number of electronic means, as well as the integration of new types of weapons, including Aster Block1 NT missiles, RAM Block 2B air defense systems, and in the Belharra Standard 2++ configuration, the integration of promising European medium-range missiles (ballistic or cruise) developed under the joint European Long-Range Strike Approach (ELSA) program.).
The main agreement worth about 3 billion euros on the acquisition by Greece in France of three frigates of the new French type FDI (the variant for Greece is designated FDI HN), with an option for another frigate, was signed on March 24, 2022 in Falera in the suburbs of Athens. Earlier in September 2021, Greek Minister of National Defense Nicholas Panagiotopoulos signed a memorandum of understanding with the Naval Group and MBDA regarding the supply of three FDI HN frigates with an option for another ship, as well as weapons for them, to the Greek Navy.
The FDI type frigates are a new project of a "medium" multipurpose frigate for the French Navy, designed to replace five La Fayette type frigates in the French Navy. The French Navy has ordered five FDI-type frigates, the lead of which, the D 660 Amiral Ronarc'h, began construction at the Naval Group arsenal in Lorient on October 24, 2019 and was officially laid down there on December 17, 2021. The frigate D 660 Amiral Ronarc'h was launched in Lorian on November 7, 2022 and began factory sea trials on October 7, 2024. Its transfer to the French Navy is now expected in mid-2026. Two more frigates of this type are currently being built in Lorian for the French Navy: D 661 Amiral Louzeau (construction began in July 2022, the first steel cutting ceremony was held on July 12, 2023, delivery is scheduled for the end of 2027) and D 662 Amiral Castex (construction began on October 4, 2024), and two more frigates have been ordered. (D 663 Amiral Nomy and D 664 Amiral Cabanier). However, priority in the construction of FDI-type frigates has been given to the Greek order, so the last three French ships out of five, according to the latest data, should be handed over to the French navy only in 2030-2032.
The export version of the FDI frigates is being promoted by Naval Group on the global market as a modular project under the designation BELH@RRA. Greece has become the first and so far the only foreign customer of the FDI-type frigates. In September 2022, the Greek Navy assigned the first three ordered frigates of this type names in honor of the Greek ancient naval commanders - F 601 Kimon ("Kimon", ΚΙΜΩΝ), F 602 Nearchos ("Nearchos", VΕΑΡΧΟΣ) and F 603 Formion ("Formion", ΦΟΡΜΙΩΝ). All three frigates ordered by Greece are being built by the Naval Group in Lorian. The lead frigate F 601 Kimon was laid down there on October 21, 2022, launched on September 28, 2023, and launched on May 21, 2025. Kimon is now expected to be handed over to the Greek Navy in December 2025, making it the first commissioned frigate of the FDI type.
The second Greek frigate F 602 Nearchos was laid down on July 4, 2023 and launched on September 18, 2024, and the third frigate F 603 Formion was laid down on April 15, 2024 and launched on June 4, 2025. According to the latest data, both of these ships should be formally handed over to the Greek Navy by the end of 2026, with actual commissioning in 2027.
The FDI-type frigates are smaller ships than the FREMM-type frigates built for the French Navy, and until the end of 2018 they were officially designated as "intermediate-size frigates" (Frégates de Taille Intermédiaire - FTI). A feature of the architecture of the frigates of the type FDI is the "water-cutting" shape of the bow of the ship. The total displacement of the FDI type frigate for the French Navy is 4,460 tons, the maximum length is 122 m, width is 17.7 m. The power plant is diesel (four diesels with a total capacity of 42900 hp), the maximum speed is 27 knots, the cruising range is 5,000 miles at 15 knots, and the autonomy is 45 days. The crew is 125 people with the possibility of accommodating another 28 people.
The weapons of the FDI-type frigates for the French Navy include eight MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3C anti-ship missile launchers, 16 Sylver A50 vertical launch launchers for Aster 15/30 anti-aircraft missiles (on the last two French ships, their number should be increased to 32), two dual-shot Sadral Mistral Simbad-RC short-range air defense missile launchers (on the lead ship not yet installed), one 76-mm Leonardo Oto Super Rapid universal artillery installation, two 20-mm remotely controlled KNDS Fance Narwhal 20B artillery installations, four 324-mm torpedo tubes for MU90 anti-submarine torpedoes, an NH90 Cayman helicopter is based in the hangar, as well as UAVs.
In the FDI HN variant, Greek ships initially have not 16, but 32 vertical launch launchers, and initially only for Aster 30 Block 1 missiles. In addition, Greek ships additionally have one 21-charge Mk 31 Rayhteon RAM Block 2B self-defense missile launcher.
The electronic armament of the French and Greek ships of the type FDI includes the new multifunctional radar complex Thales Sea Fire 500 4D with an S-band AFAR in an integrated mast, the Naval Group SETIS 3.0 control system, the Thales Kingklip Mk 2 undercarriage gas and the towed Thales CAPTAS 4 gas, the Thales STIR 1.2 EO Mk 2 fire control system, electronicThe Safran PASEO XLR optical complex, the Thales Aquilon communications complex, the iXblue MARINS and iXblue NetANS navigation systems, the Thales SENTINEL and Thales ALTESSE-H electronic warfare systems and the Naval Group CMLS anti-torpedo complex.
The lead frigate F 601 Kimon (KΙΜΩΝ) of the FDI HN project built by the French shipbuilding group Naval Group for the Greek Navy during factory sea trials, May 2025 (c) Naval Group
