On March 24, 2022, in Falera in the suburbs of Athens (Greece), in the presence of Greek Minister of National Defense Nicolas Panayiotopoulos and French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly, agreements were signed on the acquisition by Greece in France of three frigates of the new French type FDI (Frégates de Défense et d'Intervention, the option for Greece is designated FDI HN), with the option of another for one frigate, and six additional Dassault Rafale F4 series fighters. The total value of the contractual agreements is 4 billion euros, of which about 3 billion euros are frigates. The agreements were signed on board the Greek armored cruiser, which is permanently parked in Falera as a monument ship "Georgios Averof" (γερργιο Α ΑβέΡωφ) and are timed to coincide with the Independence Day of Greece celebrated on March 25 (that is, the signing ceremony had a demonstrative anti-Turkish lining).
The signing ceremony on board the monument ship of the Greek armored cruiser Georgios Averof of agreements on the acquisition by Greece in France of three frigates of the type FDI HN (with an option for another frigate), and six additional Dassault Rafale fighters. Falera (Athens), 03/24/2022 (c) greekcitytimes.com
On the Greek side, the contracts were signed by the Director General of the Main Directorate of Defense Investments and Armaments of the Ministry of National Defense of Greece, retired Vice Admiral Aristeidis Alexopoulos with the French shipbuilding association Naval Group, the French company Dassault Aviation and the European missile association MBDA. After the signing ceremony, both defense ministers visited the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, who made a call at the Greek port of Piraeus near Athens.
Recall that in September 2021, Greek Minister of National Defense Nicolas Panagiotopoulos signed a memorandum of understanding with Naval Group and MBDA regarding the supply of three frigates of the type FDI HN with an option for another ship, as well as weapons for them, for 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 frigates of the type FDI, the head of which Amiral Ronarc'h was started construction in the arsenal of the French shipbuilding association Naval Group in Lorian on October 24, 2019. Its transfer to factory sea trials is expected by the end of 2022 with the transfer to the French Navy by the end of 2024. The fifth ship is to be handed over to the French Navy in 2029.
Greece became the first foreign customer of frigates of the type FDI. All three frigates ordered by Greece are also to be built by Naval Group in Loriana, with the first two to be commissioned in 2025, and the third in 2026. This is expected to lead to a one-year shift (for 2026 and 2027) of the deadlines for the delivery of the second and third frigates of the type FDI for the French fleet.
FDI-type frigates are smaller ships than FREMM-type frigates built for the French Navy, and until the end of 2018 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 frigate type FDI for the French Navy is 4,500 tons, the maximum length is 122 m, width is 18 m. The power plant is diesel (four diesel engines with a total capacity of 42900 hp), the highest speed is 27 knots, the cruising range is 5,000 miles at 15 knots, the autonomy is 45 days. The crew is 125 people with the possibility of accommodating another 28 people.
The armament of the FDI-type frigates for the French Navy should include eight MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3C missile launchers, 16 Aster 15/30 vertical launch launchers, one 76 mm and two 20 mm artillery mounts, four 324 mm torpedo tubes for MU90 anti-submarine torpedoes, the NH90 Cayman helicopter is based in the hangar, as well as BLAH. It is reported that in the variant of the FDI HN, Greek ships will have not 16, but 32 installations for vertical launch of SAMs, and only for Aster 30 Block 1 missiles. In addition, Greek ships will additionally receive one 21-charge Mk 49 launcher of the Rayhteon RAM self-defense missile system of American production.
The electronic armament of the French and Greek ships of the FDI type will include a new multifunctional radar complex Thales Sea Fire 500 c AFAR in an integrated mast, SETIS control system, Kingklip Mk 11 and towed GAS CAPTAS 4, Aquilon communications complex, iXblue MARINS and iXblue NetANS navigation systems and SENTINEL electronic warfare complex.
The export version of the FDI frigates is promoted by Naval Group on the world market as a modular project under the designation BELH@RRA. The Greek Navy showed interest in this project from the very beginning and in October 2019 signed the first memorandum of understanding on the acquisition of two frigates of this type, and the commander of the Greek Navy, Admiral Nikolaos Tsaonis, attended the ceremony of the first steel cutting for the lead French frigate of this type Amiral Ronarc'h in Loriana. However, subsequently, the Greek Navy arranged a tender process for the selection of a new frigate, in which the Fincantieri FREMM, Damen SIGMA 11515, Lockheed Martin HF2 (a variant of the Freedom-type LCS ship) and Babcock Arrowhead 140 projects were also contenders. In reality, apparently, the tender was more of a formality and was used to improve negotiating positions with the French side.
As for the contract for the purchase of six Rafale fighters by Greece, it is additional to the contract signed in January 2021 with Dassault Aviation worth 2.32 billion euros for the purchase of 18 Rafale fighters. Of the 18 Rafale fighters acquired by Greece under this contract, 12 are transferred from the presence of the French Aerospace Forces (ten single-seat Rafale C and two two-seat Rafale B, while in May 2021, 12 new aircraft were ordered to compensate for those supplied to Greece for the French Aerospace Forces), modified to the F3-R level, and six will be new aircraft built by Dassault Aviation F3-R series (four single and two double). The Greek single-seat fighters received the designation Rafale EG, and the two-seat fighters received the designation Rafale DG. The contract also included a package of technical and service support for a period of 4.5 years and training of personnel.
In January 2022, Greece received under this contract the first batch of six aircraft transferred from the presence of the French Aerospace Forces, four of them are single-seat Rafale EG (former French Rafale C) and two are two-seat Rafale DG (former French Rafale B). Deliveries of the remaining Rafale fighters for the Greek Air Force under this contract are planned to be made in two more batches, including six new-built aircraft to be delivered from December 2022 at a rate of one aircraft per month, and should arrive in Greece in July-August 2023, and the last six aircraft from the presence of the French Aerospace Forces should be received one by one aircraft per month in the second half of 2023.
It is reported that the six additional Rafale fighters ordered now will be new-built machines in the new version of the F4 and should be handed over to the Greek side from July to December 2024.
Design images of the frigate type FDI HN for the Greek Navy (c) Naval Group
