France wins contract for the procurement of new vessels for Hellenic Navy

According to information published by Greek City Times on September 27, 2021, France and Greece will sign a major defense deal with a contract between Naval Group and Hellenic Navy about three FDI frigates and three Gowind-class corvettes.
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Russian Vyborg Shipyard laid the Purga ice class coastguard ship of project 23550 925 001 Artist rendering of FDI (export version Belharra) frigates (Picture source: Naval Group)


The Gowind design is a family of steel monohull frigates, corvettes and offshore patrol vessels developed since 2006 by France's Naval Group, formerly known as DCNS, to conduct missions in littoral zone such as anti-submarine warfare (ASW). The Gowind family includes vessels with lengths from 85 to 111 metres (278 ft 10 in to 364 ft 2 in) and displacement from 1,000 tons to 3,100 tons.

Gowind® is a military-engineered compact surface combatant equipped with a set of state-of the-art, combat-proven anti-submarine, anti-surface and anti-aircraft systems to NATO standards. Gowind® takes the best of the latest technological advances developed and mastered by Naval Group for large frigates, in order to anticipate and meet future operational requirement. It integrates the latest generation of combat systems developed by Naval Group, SETIS®, the "Panoramic Sensors and Intelligence Module (PSIM)" - a combination of the integrated mast with its various sensors and the Operational Centre and associated technical premises - and the high level of integration, automation and user-friendliness of the Naval Group systems.

The FDI frigate is the 5th generation of combat ship for naval supremacy and crisis management. This warship is designed for navies looking for a compact frigate able to perform a large range of missions stand-alone or within a task force either. Like the FREMM, the FDI frigate features high-level capabilities in anti-air, antisurface, anti-submarine and asymmetric warfare domains, taking into account French Navy operational legacy acquired in wartime situation.

Its maximum speed is 27 knots and it has an autonomy of 45 days with operational availability of 3500 hours per year. The frigate can accommodate 125 men and women + 28 passengers and will be able to carry at the same time a helicopter (capacity of 10 t, the actual helicopter will weigh 5t) and an Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), developed as part of the SDAM program with Airbus Helicopters.