The first ship of the FDI frigate of the French Navy, Admiral Ronak, and the first frigate of the Greek Navy FDI HN type frigate I, which are being built in the naval group shipyard in Lorient, France.
On December 16, 2021, the inaugural ship of the French Navy's FDI frigate, Admiral Ronak, held a keel laying ceremony, which was built by the French Ship Equipment Group and is expected to be delivered to the French Navy in 2024. FDI frigates with a displacement of 4500 tons, a length of 122 meters, a width of 19 meters, a maximum speed of 27 knots, a self-sustaining force of 45 days, equipped with a "sea fire" radar system, equipped with MM40 "flying fish" anti-ship missiles, "Aster" -15/30 anti-aircraft missiles, MU90 anti-submarine torpedoes and other weapons and equipment, can carry 1 10-ton helicopter, 1 700 kg UAV and 2 assault boats. The ship is France's first digital frigate, which can perform a variety of tasks independently or in a task force, and has strong air defense, anti-ship, anti-submarine, and asymmetric combat capabilities. FDI frigate on the main mast is a set of integrated masts, the core is 4 Thales company's newly developed "sea fire" 500 active phased array radar, which is the first time on the legal warship to use a fixed 4-area array digital AESA radar, this radar uses S band, each side array T/R unit number of nearly 2500, search distance up to 500 km, air defense situational awareness is good, but because the positioning is below the "horizon" and FREM, FDI only 16 can launch "Aster" Silva vertical launcher of the 15/30 ship-to-air missile. Its main anti-ship weapons are two 4-unit "Flying Fish" MM40 Block3C anti-ship missiles, a 76mm Otto Breda naval gun on the bow, two 20mm secondary guns, and a MU90 torpedo.
In October 2021, Greece and France formally signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase three custom FDI-class frigates (tentatively known as the FDI-HN class, HN is the abbreviation of the English Greek Navy Hellenic Navy) for 3 billion euros. The three frigates are expected to be delivered in 2025 and 2026 respectively (ships I and II in 2025). The memorandum also includes a clause that "if the parties jointly determine that the territory of one of the parties has been invaded, mutual assistance and assistance shall be provided, if necessary, through the use of force" by all appropriate means". ”
The FDI-HN class is the finished product of the French Naval Group based on the French FDI-class frigates ("Belhara" class or "Rornak" class frigates) in terms of details and equipment. The FDI-HN-class frigates are 121.6 meters long, 17.7 meters wide, 4.5 meters draft, 4500 tons of full load displacement, a maximum speed of 27 knots, a maximum range of 5000 nautical miles, 15 days of self-sustainability at sea, and a full personnel of 125 people. The bow is equipped with a "Otto Melera" 76 mm naval gun rapid-fire type, with a maximum rate of fire of 120 rounds per minute. Behind the main gun is four groups of 8 combined 32-unit A-50 "Silva" A-50 vertical launch system, filled with French "Aster" -30 anti-aircraft missiles, the missile is 4.9 meters long, 0.18 meters in diameter, the maximum range is 120 kilometers, the maximum flight speed is Mach 4.5, and the warhead weighs 15 kilograms. The ship's cabin is equipped with 2 x 4-mount missile launchers, filled with French MM-40 "Flying Fish" Block 3C anti-ship missiles, the missile is 5.95 meters long, 0.35 meters in diameter, weighs 780 kg, has a warhead of more than 100 kg, has a maximum flight speed of Mach 0.9, and a maximum range of more than 200 km. Above the hangar is equipped with a 21-mount MK-49 missile launch system, filled with RIM-116C "Ram" Block 2 short-range anti-aircraft missiles, the missile is 2.88 meters long, 0.16 meters in diameter, weighs 88 kg, has a maximum flight speed of Mach 2 and a maximum range of 12 km. A Narwhal 20 mm remote control weapon station was installed on the bridge and on the hangar, with a maximum rate of fire of 3400 rounds per minute and a maximum range of 5 km (1.5 km against the air). Between the ship's stern and the hangar, each side was equipped with a MU90 torpedo launcher, the MU90 torpedo was 2.85 meters long, 324 mm in diameter, weighed 305 kg in total, weighed 33 kg in the warhead, 23 km in maximum luxury, had a maximum attack depth of more than 1 km, and had a maximum sailing speed of 50 knots.
The FDI-HN-class frigate is equipped with the Thales Seafire 4D active phased array radar, operating in the S-band, equipped with 4 fixed array surfaces, with a maximum search distance of more than 300 kilometers, which can simultaneously detect and track 800 different targets from 360 °, and can provide synchronous long-range 3D surveillance, horizon search, ground surveillance and fire control for the "Aster" missile, providing early warning for potential attacks. The Netherlands calls it "the most advanced 4D active phased array radar." 1 Thales STIR 1.2 MK2 fire control radar, operating in the I and K bands, the maximum search range of I band 120 km, K band 36 km, mainly for the Flying Fish anti-ship missiles and naval guns to guide the target. Other ship electrical appliances include: 4-array surface Tyres TSA-6000 friend or foe identification radar; Thales RADAR Low Intercept Radar (LPI); Canadian NAV Navigation Radar; Thales Sentinel electronic warfare system; Alcimal Naval Radio System; Anti-submarine systems, etc.
