Steel-cut ceremony held for the first FDI frigate of France

France’s giant defence company Naval Group announced that the steel-cutting ceremony of the first defence and intervention frigate (FDI) was held on the Naval Group site of Lorient. The interest and participation for the ceremony was great, many officials attended the ceremony.

The ceremony was led in the presence of the Minister for Armed Forces, Florence Parly, the Head of the French Armament Directorate (DGA) Délégué général pour l’Armement, Joël Barre, the Chief of Staff of the French Navy Christophe Prazuck, the Chief of the Hellenic Navy Nikolaos Tsounis, many French officials and foreign delegations as well as Naval Group CEO, Hervé Guillou. The First of class will be delivered in 2023 and is part of a series of five vessels.

During the ceremony’s speech, the French Minister of the Armed Forces unveiled the name of all the five frigates, naming them in honour of five eminent French admirals. The first-of-class (FoC) is entitled to Admiral Ronarc’h while the remaining respectively to Admiral Louzeau, Admiral Castex, Admiral Nomy and Admiral Cabanier. Admiral Ronarc’h has been Chief of General Staff of the French Navy between 1919 and 1920, and distinguished himself during World War I.

A brief presentation of the 4500 tons-class digital multimission frigate :

The FDI is a high sea vessel with a 4,500 tons class displacement. Multipurpose and resilient, she is capable of operating, alone or within a naval force, through all of types of warfare: antisurface, anti air, anti-submarine and allows for special forces projection.

Strongly armed (Exocet MM40 B3C anti-surface missiles, Aster 15/30 anti-air missiles, MU90 antisubmarine torpedoes, artillery), the FDI is able to embark simultaneously a helicopter and an unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) . She can also receive a Special Forces detachment with their two commando boats.

The FDI will be the first French frigate natively protected against cyber threats, with a Data Centre accommodating a great part of the ship applications. The FDI introduces the concept of a dedicated system for asymmetric threats warfare, distinct from the operation room. Located behind the bridge, it will lead asymmetrical warfare against air and surface threats such as mini-UAVs or tricked boats. The FDIwhich gathers the best of French technology in a compact platform. She is a powerful and innovative frigate, designed for facing evolving threats.

The design and production of the FDI build onthe experience of the FREMM program: Naval Group benefits from the operational feedback given by the French Navy.

Specifications :

– Displacement: 4,500 tons class
– Length: 122 meters
– Beam: 18 meters
– Max. speed: 27 knots
– Autonomy: 45 days
– Accomodation: 125 + 28

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