During his visit to Naval Group’s Lorient shipyard on September 19, 2024, for the launching ceremony of the Hellenic Navy (HN)’s second FDI HN frigate ‘Nearchos‘ (F602), Greek Minister of Defence Nikos Dendias announced that Greece will enter negotiations to purchase a fourth FDI HN frigate and to equip a number of them with naval cruise missiles (NCM). The intention to purchase a fourth frigate by Greece reflects not only the satisfaction of the Navy’s leadership with the progress in the construction and capabilities of the new frigates but also the government’s confidence in the FDI program.
We remind that the acquisition of a 4th frigate has been part of the government’s and HN leadership’s plan from the beginning, and the option to acquire a 4th frigate was even included in the contract signed on March 24, 2022, between Greek officials and French manufacturers Naval Group, MBDA, and Thales. The contract includes the procurement of three (3) plus one (1) optional Frégate de Défense et d’Intervention (FDI) in their Hellenic Navy (HN) configuration (FDI HN), all to be built in Lorient, France along with their weapons load and integrated logistics support (ILS). These new frigates are intended to replace a number of the obsolete Elli (Kortenaer/S) class frigates.
The Greek 4,550-ton frigates will be more heavily armed than their French counterparts, featuring additional capabilities such as 16 extra ASTER 30 SAMs, Sylena Mk1 AAW decoy launching systems (DLS), and a 21-tube Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Close-In Weapon System (CIWS). In addition to these enhancements, each HN frigate will be equipped with a laser warning system (LWS), WiMax/5G capability for Level-4, an unmanned aerial system (UAS) Camcopter S-100 fitted for Level-4, and a 76mm gun with Multi-Feeder (MF).
It should be noted that the option for the fourth FDI HN, along with the related weapons load and integrated logistics support (ILS), officially expired on June 30, 2023, under the terms and conditions of the contract. Therefore, the current price cannot be estimated. The total price for the option was less than €1 billion, which was considered a great price given the rapid increase in raw material prices. Specifically, the ship itself would have cost €719.6 million, the ILS was valued at €9.4 million, €10 million was allocated for four MU90 LWT torpedoes and eight CANTO anti-torpedo decoys for Naval Group’s CMLS DLS, and the missile package (ASTER 30 Block 1 SAM and EXOCET MM40 Block 3C SSM) was valued at €200 million. According to the contract, France was committed to delivering the fourth FDI HN by December 31, 2027.
These 122-meter multi-mission frontline combatants will be known as the Kimon class and will carry the names of famous Greek admirals: Kimon, Nearhos, and Phormion. The first two ships of the class, Kimon and Nearhos, will be delivered to the Hellenic Navy (HN) in 2025 in the initial (Standard 1) French configuration (FDI), as they were originally intended for the French Navy (Marine Nationale), which has announced plans to procure five FDI to replace the La Fayette-class frigates. In 2027, both ships will be upgraded to the more advanced FDI HN (Standard 2) configuration. The third frigate, Phormion, will be delivered in 2026 and will be the first ship in the FDI HN configuration.
The fourth frigate will likely be named after one of the most famous admirals in history, Themistocles, a name currently borne by a non-modernized Elli class frigate. Notably, these names were previously used for the four former United States Navy C.F. Adams-class destroyers (1991-2004), which were armed with a single-arm Mk13 missile launcher for 40 km-range Standard Missile (SM)-1 SAM.
The big news of the day, however, is not that Greece is moving towards acquiring a fourth frigate of this type, but that some of them will be equipped with Missile de Croisière Naval (MdCN) also known as naval cruise missiles (NCM), a strategic weapon with a range of over 1,000km which few countries possess, especially on surface ships. MdCN- NCM, a product of MBDA, provides a unique operational capability with long range metric precision strike against politically / military sensitive targets. Specifically the Minsiter said:
The new advanced strategic weapons on our new frigates will also be a significant factor of power. The frigate ‘Nearchos,’ like the ‘Phormion’ and the fourth frigate, will incorporate additional technologies that will provide new capabilities. A key part of our negotiations will be for these three frigates to be equipped with the SCALP NAVAL strategic missile, possibly the most advanced cruise missile capable of hitting strategic targets over a thousand kilometers away with great precision.
These additions have been included in the 12-year Long-Term Defense Equipment Program, which was presented to the Prime Minister, and in the coming days, the relevant Committee of the Hellenic Parliament will be informed, and I will present it to the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) for adoption. The 12-year Long-Term Program is also accompanied by a 20-year forecast, which I believe is a first in the history of the Hellenic Republic. This program will allow our country to respond to any challenge that may arise.
Nikolaos Dendias, Minister of Defence, Lorient, France September 19, 2024
However, the Greek Minister’s statement raises significant questions, such as whether three ships will indeed have this strategic strike capability, considering that the second FDI HN frigate, Nearchos, is already at an advanced stage of construction with a tight delivery schedule. What will the configuration of the ships equipped with MdCN missiles be, since up until now, it was understood that each ship would have 32 x ASTER 30 SAMs in four eight-cell SYLVER A50 VLS? Given that the SYLVER A50 can only launch ASTER 15 and 30 SAMs, while the NCM missiles require the SYLVER A70, which cannot launch ASTER missiles, this suggests a change in VLS configuration and a reduction in the number of ASTER 30 SAMs on the ships. Will the ships have two or three A50 VLS modules, with the remainder being A70? Or the A70 will finally be modified to launch ASTER 30? If this could be done, why didn’t the French do it with their own FREMM ‘Bretagne’ and ‘Normandie’, but instead changed the A43 to A50 to accommodate ASTER 30? Greece may utilize the stock of 116 ASTER 30 Block 1 missiles it will acquire for the three first frigates to equip a fourth, eliminating the need for additional purchases, aside from the MdCN-NCM.
Whatever configuration is ultimately decided for the Greek ships that will carry the MdCN-NCM, it does not change the historic significance of this decision, if it is indeed implemented. Greece will enter an exclusive club of countries with the capability to strike over 1,000 km from naval units, while it also opens the door for acquiring this capability for the four (4) new generation submarines that the Navy plans to acquire. If this happens, it would automatically give a slight advantage to French (Naval Group) submarine designs and less to the German (TKMS) ones, which the HN has been using for decades and was often the first customer for many, such as the Type 209/1100 and Type 214 designs.
