Sea trials begin for French Navy's lead FDI frigate

French shipbuilder the Naval Group has begun conducting sea trials of the first unit of three defence and intervention frigates (Frégate de défense et d'intervention; FDI) slated for the French Navy.

The Naval Group said that the feedback from the sea trials of the future Amiral Ronarc'h will contribute to the development of other FDI ships ordered by the French and Hellenic Navies. The latter navy will receive three examples of the FDI HN variant, which will also be built at the Naval Group's shipyard in Lorient.

The trials will also assess the performance of the future Amiral Ronarc'h's combat systems under real-world conditions at sea.

The 121- by 18-metre, 4,200-tonne FDI ships will be capable of anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and insertion and extraction of special operations forces. Armament will include surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, and a 76mm naval gun.

The Naval Group said they are also the first frigates to benefit from a digital architecture that will enable them to adapt continuously to technological and operational developments. The company remarked that, as a result, the FDIs will be able to deal with current and future high-spectrum threats, with 360-degree coverage in all frequency bands, and process an ever-increasing amount of data.

The FDI honours Pierre-Alexis Ronarc'h, a French Navy admiral who saw service during the First World War.