Naval Group Launches Second Defence and Intervention Frigate for the Hellenic Navy
On 19 September 2024, Naval Group held the launching ceremony of the second defence and intervention frigate Hellenic Ship (HS) Nearchos in its Lorient shipyard.
The ceremonial launching took place in the presence of minister of national defence of the Hellenic Republic, Nikolaos Dendias and director of the international direction of the French General Armament Directorate (representing Sébastien Lecornu, the French Minister of the Armed Forces), General Gaël Diaz de Tuesta. Chief of the Hellenic national defence general staff, General Dimitrios Choupis, Chief of Hellenic Navy General Staff, Vice Admiral Dimitrios E. Kataras as well as the General Director of GDDIA, Major General Ioannis Bouras also attended the ceremony.
The HS Nearchos frigate joined on her sister ship HS Kimon in the Scorff river, which is currently undergoing harbour trials before starting on her first sea trials. HS Nearchos will receive its Panoramic Sensors and Intelligence Module (PSIM) a few weeks after its launching. The three Hellenic frigates are now at an advanced stage of production. The third ship, HS Formion–keel laying of whose first block took place in April–has completed its hull assembly this August.
One of her blocks, section 8, was manufactured by Salamis Shipyards in Greece. The three frigates will be delivered in 2025 and 2026. This event is once again an opportunity to highlight the success of the solid, long-term industrial cooperation between France and Greece, which is characterised by the integration of numerous Greek manufacturers into Naval Group’s supply chain. HS Nearchos, as well as the other FDI frigates, incorporates several equipment ‘made in Greece’.
The defence and intervention frigate for the Hellenic Navy is a 4,500-tonne innovative, powerful and digital warship. They are multipurpose and resilient, and will enable the Hellenic Navy to ensure its maritime superiority in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea given their high-level capabilities in all areas of naval combat: anti-air, anti-submarine, anti-ship, and special forces projection, with unique capabilities against asymmetric threats. The frigates also benefit from the latest Thales innovations in radar, sonar and electronic warfare. Strongly armed (MBDA Exocet MM40 B3C anti-surface and Aster anti-missile missiles, RAM systems, MU90 anti-submarine torpedoes, artillery), HS Nearchos embarks simultaneously a helicopter and has a capacity of aerial vehicle (UAV).