The Greek Minister of Defense was invited to Lorient to take part in the launch of the first frigate of a new generation, which is called the FDI and will be used by both the Greek and French armed forces. As a result of the Greek order, Naval Group has been able to acquire a series effect, which enables them to provide pricing and delivery time guarantees. This argues that the current order in Europe needs to be more organized.
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| [New generation FDI Frigate "Admiral Ronarc'h"/ Les Echos,AFP] |
The manufacturing of new intervention and defense frigates (FDI) for both the French Navy and the Greek Navy is entering its cruising pace at the town of Lorient, which is located in Brittany. Sébastien Le Cornu, Minister of the French Armed Forces, and Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, Minister of the Hellenic Armed Forces, were in attendance during the launch of the first FDI on Monday afternoon.
After finishing the building of a series of eight multi-mission frigates (FREMM) for the French Navy, Naval Group will now concentrate the majority of the Lorient facility to the fabrication of the FDI. This is a momentous move for the company. In 2017, France placed an order for five.
An FDI delivered every six months
The shipyard was able to get out of the Malthusian logic that was imposed by the spreading out and the changes of foot of the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) thanks to an order for three FDI from Greece, with an option for a fourth FDI being finalized on March 24. This allowed the shipyard to invest and ramp up production.
Stéphane Frémont, director of combat ships at Naval Group, explains that the company is currently testing out a Franco-Greek program. He says that the ships in the program are nearly identical to one another, with the exception of a few pieces of equipment, and that the program will require the delivery of a frigate every six months. A manufacturing pace for this sort of boat at Lorient, which is the heart of the surface structures for the firm's military naval construction group, that has never been accomplished before.
As a result, the second frigate is now in dry dock, getting ready to be assembled at the construction hall in Lorient while the first frigate is being launched. In comparison, the production of an FDI will take a total of 36 months, while the production of a FREMM will take an average of 50 months. The French Navy is scheduled to receive the frigate that was launched on Monday. It will be the first in a succession of frigates. Then, in the year 2025, Greece will get the numbers 2 and 3, respectively. A FDI for France and another one for Greece are both scheduled for the year 2026. And the same thing will happen in 2027, supposing that Greece reaffirms its need for a fourth frigate by June of 2023.
"Lorient is briefly becoming an FDI factory," gloats Stéphane Frémont, who recalls that Naval Group has committed around forty million euros since 2018 to totally digitize the site. "Lorient is temporarily becoming an FDI factory," In a deteriorating geopolitical climate, Naval Group is thus ahead of the discussion that was started by the minister of the Armed Forces and the President of the Republic on the need for the military sector to be able to produce more and quicker. In this manner, Naval Group is ahead of the game.
"Our production rate is four times higher than what would correspond to the needs of France," says Stéphane Frémont, highlighting that the current military programming law assesses French requirements as fifteen first-class frigates. "Our production rate is four times higher than what would correspond to the needs of France," says Stéphane Frémont. On the premise of "one renewal every thirty years," Lorient would supply a boat once every two years if it did not export any of its products.
Because of the serial effect, Naval Group was able to plan ahead for its supplies and keep a level head regarding whether or not it would be able to meet its delivery deadline. The majority of the subcontracts were signed before the inflation rate reached its highest point, according to the organization.
In the event that a fresh order is placed, Lorient is able to reply to it and complete the delivery by the year 2029. The organization notes that it is in conversation with a number of prospects and emphasizes the competitiveness of the boat in relation to other international initiatives that are similar; this competitiveness is once again attributable to the series effect.
Radar system of FDI Frigate
The FDI, which has a draft of 4,500 tons, is 122 meters long, and has a crew of 125 sailors. It is a concentration of modern advances, in notably the Thales fixed-plane radar, which will be incorporated into its mast and will give continuous surveillance in all 360 degrees surrounding the ship.
In 2019, the Ministry of the Armed Forces had estimated that the order would cost 3.8 billion euros for the development and the first batch of three FDIs. In comparison, the Greek contract is estimated to be approximately 3 billion euros, including weaponry and maintenance.