Naval Group delivered the Defence and Intervention Frigate HS Nearchos (F602) to the Hellenic Navy on October 30, 2026, at its Lorient shipyard in Brittany, making it the second of four FDI frigates ordered by Athens. Greek Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias and French Minister of the Armed Forces Catherine Vautrin attended the ceremony. The handover comes ten months after lead ship HS Kimon (F601) was delivered on December 18, 2025, and ahead of the third hull, HS Formion, scheduled for delivery by the end of 2026.
Greece signed contracts on March 24, 2022, for three FDI HN (Hellenic Navy) frigates plus one option, together with in-service support. To meet Athens’ demand for early deliveries, hulls originally sequenced for the French Navy were reassigned to the Greek program, which explains the compressed schedule. Nearchos was launched in September 2024 and began sea trials in February 2026. If Formion is delivered on time, the Hellenic Navy will have received three front-line frigates in roughly twelve months.
FDI Frigate HS Nearchos: Sea Fire Radar and Aster Air Defense
The FDI HN is a 4,500-ton class surface combatant measuring approximately 122 meters in length with an 18-meter beam and a maximum speed of 27 knots. Publicly available specifications indicate a combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) plant rated at about 32 megawatts. The ship is built around two onboard data centers hosting nearly all of its applications, an architecture Naval Group presents as natively protected against cyber threats.
Air and surface surveillance rests on the Thales Sea Fire, a fully digital S-band active electronically scanned array (AESA) multifunction radar whose four fixed panels, mounted on a single integrated mast, provide continuous 360-degree coverage. Underwater detection combines the Thales Kingklip Mk2 hull-mounted sonar with the Captas-4 Compact variable depth sonar, giving the class a credible anti-submarine warfare (ASW) suite in the confined, acoustically complex waters of the Aegean.
The Greek configuration published by Naval Group is markedly heavier than that of the first French FDIs. It provides for 32 MBDA Aster surface-to-air missiles in Sylver A50 vertical launchers, twice the 16 carried by the first three French ships, alongside eight MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3C anti-ship missiles and RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles (RAM) for point defense. MU90 lightweight torpedoes fired from four tubes, a Leonardo 76 mm gun and CANTO anti-torpedo decoys complete the fit. Nearchos is the first Greek FDI delivered in the Standard 2 configuration, according to Naval News, which adds two Sylver A50 modules, a 21-cell RAM launcher and SYLENA Mk1 decoy launchers. HS Kimon, delivered in the initial Standard 1 configuration, is to complete its Standard 2 integration by October 2027. The flight deck and hangar accommodate a 10-ton class helicopter and a vertical take-off unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
That 32-round Aster magazine is the operationally decisive element. It gives the Hellenic Navy a true area air defense capability that its legacy frigates do not provide, allowing a single FDI to cover a surface action group or contribute to the air picture over the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
Fourth Hull, Fleet Upgrades and Greek Industrial Participation
Athens converted its option into a firm order on November 14, 2025, contracting a fourth ship, HS Themistokles. The amendment also covers maintenance and extends additional capabilities across the entire FDI HN fleet; Greek reporting placed the value of the contract at €982 million. Naval Group has committed to 25 percent local content on the fourth frigate.
According to Naval Group, more than 75 Greek companies now take part in its FDI and submarine programs, supplying electronic boards, pre-outfitted hull blocks and complex mechanical and electronic systems. The Hellenic Navy has also awarded the company the initial in-service support contract for the class, to be executed with its subsidiary Naval Group Hellas and Greek industrial partners. Chairman and CEO Pierre Éric Pommellet described the Nearchos handover as a “crucial milestone” for the program.
Analysis: The significance of Nearchos lies in fleet arithmetic rather than in a single hull. With two Sea Fire-equipped ships delivered and a third due within weeks, the Hellenic Navy approaches the threshold at which it can keep at least one area air defense frigate continuously available while the others train or undergo maintenance. Locally anchored sustainment through Naval Group Hellas is what will make that availability durable. For Naval Group, on-schedule Greek deliveries provide the reference case behind its wider FDI export campaigns, including its current offer to Denmark.
The next milestones are the transit of Nearchos to Greece and its commissioning, the delivery of Formion before the end of 2026, and the rollout of the contracted capability upgrades across the class as construction of Themistokles proceeds. Athens has also signaled interest in the MdCN naval cruise missile; whether, and on which hulls, it would be integrated remains unconfirmed.