Naval Group: Type ship of the FDI frigate delivered to Marine Nationale

In October, the French state shipyard Naval Group delivered the "Admiral Ronarc'h", the type ship of the five FDI frigates (Frégate de Défense et d'Intervention) in Brest to the Marine Nationale. As a completely newly developed multi-mission frigate (122 metres, 4,500 tonnes), it should be able to master and defend against everything that the latest technologies can throw at a ship: State-of-the-art submarines, swarm drone attacks, cyber attacks and all kinds of asymmetric attacks. Festive commissioning speeches always sound good! And it can also be sold: three identical examples of the Greek Kimon class are to be built in Lorient - the type ship is currently undergoing sea trials and should actually be delivered in 2025. The two other frigates are currently under construction and are due to be handed over in 2026. Exports come first - and so the commissioning of the second French FDI will have to wait until 2027. C'est la vie.