French Navy is now at a certain crossroads regarding further vector of strengthening its combat capabilities. In Paris there’s active discussion about the need to purchase three additional ships of the so-called first class, from frigate and above.
After approving implementation of the new PANG nuclear aircraft carrier, with the argument that France in predatory times must be strong, strengthening the country’s navy becomes a more grounded development option. Moreover, substantive discussions about this have already begun in France’s defense committee, Opex360 writes.
French Navy FDI-class frigate Amiral Ronarc’h / Photo credit: Marine nationale
But the question arises: which frigates exactly can be purchased. Specifically, the most likely option is ordering additional FDI frigates, which should replace La Fayette-class frigates. Currently, there are plans for five such ships.
Defense Express notes that with displacement of 4,500 tons, these ships have quite limited strike capabilities, limited to 8 angled Exocet launchers. At the same time, despite having 16 or 32 (in updated FDI version) Sylver cells, all of them are type A50 for Aster 15/30 air defense missiles. At the same time, as Greece’s example shows, FDI can be modernized and 8 Sylver A70 cells can be installed on it for MdCN cruise missiles.
French Navy FREMM-class frigate Auvergne / Photo credit: Marine nationale
And that’s why the decision to order additional FDIs may not meet real requirements for increasing strike capabilities. But they can be provided by FREMM frigates, of which France has eight units in service. This is a much larger ship with displacement of 6,000 tons (in French version), which in basic form has 16 A50 cells for air defense and 16 A70 cells for cruise missiles, as well as 8 Exocet.
Additionally, there are Horizon-class frigates with displacement of 7,000 tons, which have quite narrow anti-air focus. They are equipped with 48 A50 cells with similar number of Exocet. The French Navy has two Horizon frigates.
French Navy Horizon-class frigate Chevalier Paul / Photo credit: Marine nationale
Also, France points to Italys desire to have two full-fledged DDX project destroyers from Fincantieri (not to be confused with the American project of the same name) in service by 2030. These ships should have displacement of 14,000-14,500 tons, and armament include up to 80 cells 48 A50 and 32 A70.
And of course, the larger the ship, the greater its strike capabilities, but of course also greater cost. And, as the publication notes, currently French Navy Chief of Staff Nicolas Vaujour has certain skepticism about large ships, which he expressed during parliamentary hearings.
DDX from Fincantieri / Photo credit: Marine nationale
He noted that France and Italy have different views on forming their fleets. And in his view, the choice of the smallest of outlined options FDI looks more promising.