{"id":871266,"date":"2026-04-04T09:46:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T09:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/871266\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T09:46:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T09:46:16","slug":"france-orders-fifth-fdi-frigate-from-naval-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/871266\/","title":{"rendered":"France orders fifth FDI frigate from Naval Group"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>The French defense procurement agency (DGA) ordered the fifth FDI frigate for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) from Naval Group. The vessel, to be named Amiral Cabanier, will be built at the shipyard in Lorient.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The order announcement was made today by the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. The actual contract was signed on 31 March 2026. The press release mentions a delivery date of 2032.<\/p>\n<p>For the record, as far as French Navy FDIs are concerned, the first four ships in the class were ordered by DGA to Naval Group as follow:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Amiral Ronarc\u2019h, ordered in April 2017, delivered in October 2025<\/li>\n<li>Amiral Louzeau, ordered in March 2021, launch expected in Q2 2026<\/li>\n<li>Amiral Castex, ordered in March 2021,<\/li>\n<li>Amiral Nomy, ordered in December 2025,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The first-in-class ship, Amiral Ronarc\u2019h\u00a0(D660) is currently conducting its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navalnews.com\/naval-news\/2026\/01\/first-french-fdi-frigate-begins-long-duration-deployment\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">long-term deploym<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.navalnews.com\/naval-news\/2026\/01\/first-french-fdi-frigate-begins-long-duration-deployment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">e<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.navalnews.com\/naval-news\/2026\/01\/first-french-fdi-frigate-begins-long-duration-deployment\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">nt<\/a> (often called long cruise or check down cruise) before formally entering active duty. The frigate\u2019s commanding officer <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/NFAVjxANBHk?si=XowQA2C1aY-G2mEM&amp;t=500\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">told Naval News during an interview<\/a> in Sweden that this major step is expected between the Summer and year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n<p>Displacing 4,500 tons, the FDI is a versatile high-sea vessel capable of operating in all domains: anti-ship warfare, anti-air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, asymmetric threat countermeasures, cyber defence, and special forces projection. FDI frigates are designed for high-intensity combat and are equipped with substantial armament: Exocet MM40 B3c anti-ship missiles, Aster 15 and 30 anti-air missiles, MU90 torpedoes, 20 mm and 76 mm artillery.<\/p>\n<p>They can simultaneously embark a helicopter, a drone and accommodate a special forces detachment with two commando boats. Fully digital, the FDI feature a cyber-secured and redundant data center hosting the applications necessary for their operation and combat system functionality. Equipped with significant computing capabilities, these digital fortresses can process a substantial volume of information from the various onboard sensors.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of operational innovation, the FDI is the first ship to natively feature a dedicated management station for combating asymmetric threats, designed to counter air and surface attacks; notably mini-drones and suicide boats. This station is separated from the combat information center (CIC), which is responsible for all other combat domain.<\/p>\n<p>The FDI is equipped with a single mast housing all airborne sensors, enabling continuous 360\u00b0 surveillance. As the first vessel of the French Navy to be fitted with Thales\u2019 fixed-panel SEAFIRE radar, it boasts the most advanced sonars and its anti-air and anti-surface surveillance is ensured by the most modern sensors, capable of countering the most advanced threats.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"FDI Amiral Louzeau Themistocles Naval Group Lorient February 2026\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/FDI-Amiral-Louzeau-Themistocles-Naval-Group-Lorient-February-2026-1024x768.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Impressive view of the FDI production at Naval Group Lorient shipyard. France\u2019s second FDI, Amiral Louzeau, is on the left while Greece\u2019s fourth FDI, Themistocles, is taking shape on the right, highlighting that two frigates can be produced in parallel.<\/p>\n<p>The keel laying of the first FDI took place in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.navalnews.com\/naval-news\/2021\/12\/video-fdi-keel-laying-naval-group-french-navy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">December 2021<\/a>\u00a0and the launch in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.navalnews.com\/naval-news\/2022\/11\/naval-group-floats-first-new-fdi-frigate-for-the-french-navy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">November 2022<\/a>. Amiral Ronarc\u2019h was delivered by Naval Group on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navalnews.com\/naval-news\/2025\/10\/naval-group-delivers-first-fdi-frigate-to-the-french-navy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">October 17, 2025<\/a>. The first FDI for the Hellenic Navy, HS Kimon was delivered on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navalnews.com\/naval-news\/2025\/12\/hellenic-navy-receives-its-first-fdi-frigate-built-by-naval-group\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">December 18, 2025<\/a>. The next five ships in the series (three for the Hellenic Navy and two for the French Navy) are still expected be delivered before 2030. The remaining French frigates in the series \u2013\u00a0Amiral Louzeau, Amiral Castex, Amiral Nomy\u00a0and\u00a0Amiral Cabanier\u00a0\u2013 will complete the French fleet between 2027 and 2032, in accordance with the 2024-2030 French military planning law. The Naval Group shipyard in Lorient has been totally revamped to be able to scale up and deliver two FDI frigates per year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A total of five vessels are set to be delivered to France. In addition, three frigates are currently under construction for Greece, with an option for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navalnews.com\/naval-news\/2025\/11\/greece-orders-a-fourth-fdi-frigate-from-naval-group\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">fourth unit officially enforced in November 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly,\u00a0Naval Group is pitching the FDI to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/2aU0bMPl78Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Sweden, Denmark<\/a>, as well as to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=b2_uwcm6lms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Saudi Arabia<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=teQYIyXUI3Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Indonesia<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"996\" height=\"560\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"French Navy's FREMM Frigate Performs Successful ASTER 30 Firing to a Supersonic Target\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ASTER-30-firing-from-ALSACE.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>ASTER 30 live firing from FREMM DA frigate Alsace (French Navy picture)<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>More firepower for French FDI frigates<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navalnews.com\/naval-news\/2025\/11\/france-to-double-aster-missile-capacity-on-fdi-frigates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">previously reported by <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.navalnews.com\/naval-news\/2025\/11\/france-to-double-aster-missile-capacity-on-fdi-frigates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Naval News<\/a>, France is in the process of increasing the firepower of the Amiral Ronarc\u2019h-class frigate. The fourth and the fifth ships-in-class will be built with an expanded vertical launch system (VLS) configuration. The decision marks a substantial upgrade to the class\u2019s anti-air warfare capabilities. The first three FDI frigates\u2014Amiral Ronarc\u2019h, Amiral Louzeau,\u00a0and\u00a0Amiral Castex\u2014will subsequently undergo retrofits to match this enhanced configuration. <\/p>\n<p>In their baseline configuration, French FDI frigates feature two Sylver A50 vertical launch systems with a total of 16 cells for MBDA Aster 15 and Aster 30 surface-to-air missiles. This arrangement provides robust self-defense and limited area air defense capabilities. The decision to double this capacity to 32 cells aligns the French Navy\u2019s configuration with enhanced export variants already under construction, most notably the Hellenic Navy\u2019s Kimon-class frigates, which feature the expanded VLS arrangement.<\/p>\n<p>A source with knowledge of the matter recently confirmed to Naval News that contractors, DGA and the French Navy are in the final contractual negotiations.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/rF3V_yxulMo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Check out our recent video at Naval Group\u2019s Lorient shipyard highlighting how the French shipbuilder builds the FDI frigates at pace:<\/a><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The French defense procurement agency (DGA) ordered the fifth FDI frigate for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) from&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,51953,36,16841,59247],"class_list":["post-871266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-france","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-fdi","tag-france","tag-french-navy","tag-naval-group"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116345804320428493","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}