Greeks welcome first defense and intervention frigate

French shipbuilding company Naval Group has delivered the first defense and intervention (FDI HN) frigate to the Hellenic Navy.

The delivery ceremony for the vessel HS Kimon took place on December 18, 2025, in Lorient, in the presence of Nikos Dendias, Greek Minister of Defense, and Catherine Vautrin, Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs.

These latest-generation frigates, ready for high-intensity combat, will enable Greece to rapidly and sustainably strengthen the capabilities of its surface fleet. Naval Group has three more FDI HN frigates to deliver to Greece.

The next two frigates for the Hellenic Navy will be delivered in 2026, and the fourth FDI HN ordered last November will be delivered in three years.

“The delivery of the first FDI for the Hellenic Navy, HS Kimon, represents a major milestone in our cooperation with Greece. We are honored to put our expertise at the service of the Hellenic Navy’s sovereignty and naval superiority through the FDI frigates, which offer very high-level capabilities in all areas of combat,” Pierre Eric Pommellet, Chairman and CEO of Naval Group, said.

The FDI is a first-rank frigate that combines capabilities in all areas of combat: anti-aircraft, anti-submarine, anti-surface, and asymmetric.

Scalable and versatile, the unit will be able to function either independently or as part of a fleet against current and emerging threats such as latest-generation submarines, supersonic missiles, cyberattacks, and multifaceted asymmetric threats. It features advanced digital and data processing technologies. High-tech industrial company Exail has been selected to provide navigation systems for the FDI frigate.

The Hellenic Navy has also awarded Naval Group the initial contract for in-service support of the FDIs. The maintenance and upgrade operations will be carried out in close collaboration between Naval Group, its Greek subsidiary Naval Group Hellas, and their local industrial partners.

To remind, the shipbuilder delivered the first defense and intervention frigate, Amiral Ronarc’h, to the French Navy in October this year.