French shipbuilder the Naval Group has begun conducting sea trials of the future HS Formion, the third FDI HN frigate ordered by the Hellenic Navy.
The future Formion has a displacement of 4,500 tonnes, a length of approximately 122 metres, a beam of 18 metres, and a maximum speed of 27 knots. Armament will include surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, and a 76mm naval gun.
Like the baseline French Navy FDI ships, the FDI HN or Kimon-class frigates were built to be capable of anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and insertion and extraction of special operations forces. Each frigate can operate alone or as part of a naval task force and can be deployed long-term over long distances.
Each FDI HN will also be natively protected against cyber threats, with a redundant IT architecture based around two data centres that host a large proportion of the ship's software in what the Naval Group said is a “virtualised” manner.
Aviation facilities will be available for use by a 10-tonne utility helicopter and an unmanned aerial vehicle. The Naval Group also provided the vessel with anti-torpedo countermeasures while Thales installed the radar, the hull-mounted and towed array sonars, and the electronic warfare systems.
The future Formion is scheduled for delivery later this year.