French armed forces ministry orders two more frigates from local builder

The French Ministry of Armed Forces, through its Defence Procurement Agency, has awarded local shipbuilder Naval Group a contract for the construction and delivery of two defence and intervention (Frégate de défense et d’intervention; FDI) frigates.

The ships, which are scheduled for delivery in 2025, will be the second and third FDI frigates that Naval Group will build for the French Navy.

The 121-metre, 4,200-tonne frigates will be capable of anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and insertion and extraction of special operations forces.