In July, the Greek shipyard Salamis Shipyards shipped five pre-equipped sections to the Naval Group for the production of the hull of the second French frigate of the FDI class Admiral Luzo. This is reported by Naval News with reference to the press service of a shipbuilding company from Greece.
The delivery of these sections marks an important milestone for Salamis Shipyards and for the entire Greek shipbuilding industry: for the first time in history, a Greek shipyard is involved in the construction of a high-tech warship for another country's fleet as part of a foreign direct investment program.
Section for the frigate FDI, produced in Greece
Salamis Shipyards
Cooperation with the Naval Group includes the participation of Salamis Shipyards in the construction of FDI-class frigates for both the Greek Navy and the French Navy. As part of the agreement, the Greek shipyard is to transfer to French partners five equipped units and a superstructure for the frigates of the FDI class. Earlier in February, Salamis Shipyards supplied five sections to form the hull of the frigate Formion, intended for the Greek Navy.
In addition to the production of sections made of special DH36 steel alloy, Naval Group entrusted the Greek partners with the installation of key systems, including the base for the main gun, the bow thruster, the helicopter hangar and their peripheral systems.
"Our shipyard has recently expanded cooperation with the Naval Group to accelerate the production of the third French frigate type FDI," said George Koros, CEO of Salamis Shipyards. "We hope that soon we will also take part in the construction of the next Greek frigate of this class."
Salamis Shipyards is the third largest shipbuilding company in Greece, second only to Skaramanga (Hellenic Shipyards) and Elefsina (ONEX Elefsis Shipyards). The dock facilities include three fully serviced double-sided completion piers with lengths of 185, 155 and 70 meters, respectively. The company is a certified contractor of the Greek Ministry of Defense.
Greece has never built a part of a warship for a foreign state before, and the Naval Group has never entrusted the production of important elements of a future ship to a foreign state, Naval News notes.
Recall that Athens and Paris signed a contract for the supply of three FDI frigates in March 2022. The first frigate, the Kimon, was launched in October 2023. Mooring tests started in March 2024 with the activation of the power distribution system. In early April, two vertical A50 launchers for Aster-30 anti-aircraft missiles were mounted on the frigate. Sea trials are expected in the second half of 2024, and transfer to the customer in 2025.
The second frigate, Nearchus, is going to be launched this year, and the third, Formion, was laid down last April.
The displacement of the FDI frigates, originally developed for the French Navy, is about 4,500 tons, the length of the hull is 122 meters, the width is 18 meters. The maximum speed is 27 knots. The cruising range is 5,000 miles, and the autonomy is 45 days. The crew is 125 people (additional accommodation for 28 people is possible).
The main armament of these ships is the 76–mm Super Rapid artillery launcher, 32 Aster anti-aircraft missiles, eight MM40 Exocet anti-ship missiles, RAM anti-aircraft missile systems, 324-mm MU-90 torpedoes.
