After having a huge financial crysis Government of Greece is planning to strengthen Hellenic Navy. The most important subject for Hellenic Navy’s procurement programme is Belharra/ FDI (Frégate de Défense et d’Intervention), the next generation of frigate for the French Navy. Greece and France are actively negotiating the preparation of an intergovernmental agreement on the purchase of two multi-purpose frigates Belharra for the Greek Navy.
The most important subject of Supreme Council of Navy, which was held on July 2019, was procurement of six frigates in place of oldest nine Kortanear Class frigates. There are two ship types on their agenda, Belharra Class Frigates and Gowind Class Corvettes. Procurement probably would be mixture of two types due to financial concerns. The two options include four Belharra and two Gowind or vice versa. To avoid latency they are planning to start project by getting two Belharra Frigates, two governments are actively working on the aggreement.
In an interview with Laurent Morr, vice president of sales for Europe and North America, the Naval Group said that Greece was “very interested” in the Belharra class frigates originally developed for the French Navy. He emphasized that Greece’s interest on Belharra starts at 2009, but their financial crysis blocked the programme.
Belharra is Naval Group’s answer to navies looking for a compact frigate to perform a large range of missions, stand-alone or within a task force, for high sea duration missions or for shallow water operation in congested and contested operational environment. Belharra benefits from Naval Group centuries of experience ensuring unmatched stealth and outstanding detection capabilities. It features a robust platform, resilient systems and recoverability features that will enable it to retain operational capability following damage. This new frigate features high level capabilities in anti-air, anti-surface, anti-submarine, and asymmetric warfare domains as well as the access to deep strike capability.
Belharra Frigates would be built for Hellenic Navy will be equipped with Naval Cruise Missile which attracts Greek authorities. This is a balance-changing weapon for the opponents and this is a deciding-factor for them. They are also planned to carry ASTER-30 Surface to Air missiles.
For further information about Belharra Class Frigates, click here to view the brochure.
