Greek Frigate Nearchos to Receive Advanced Weapons in France

by · Greek City Times

Greece’s second FDI-class frigate, Nearchos, is expected to make its first voyage under the Greek flag by Friday, 13 November, sailing to the French naval port of Brest to receive its full weapons package.

The newly built frigate, named after the Cretan admiral and close associate of Alexander the Great, will collect its advanced weapons at Brest, one of the French Navy’s most important naval bases.

Brest plays a key role in Greece’s frigate programme, as it handles the delivery and loading of weapons manufactured by MBDA. The first Greek FDI frigate, Kimon, followed the same route before arriving at the Salamis Naval Base around a year ago.

Nearchos will remain in Brest until the middle of next week. Weather permitting, it will then sail to its home base in the Saronic Gulf.

Read more: Greece Sets Flag-Raising Date for Third Belharra Frigate Formion

Under the Standard II configuration, the frigate’s arsenal includes a substantial supply of anti-aircraft missiles, guided surface-to-surface missiles, torpedoes and ammunition. Once it receives its weapons, the vessel will be ready to undertake any mission assigned by the Hellenic Fleet Headquarters.

Nearchos’ weapons arsenal

The weapons package includes Aster 30 missiles, among Europe’s most advanced anti-aircraft missile systems. These missiles give FDI frigates a significant advantage by providing area air defence.

The system can reportedly search an area extending more than 500 kilometres around the ship, track hundreds of targets simultaneously and engage the most dangerous threats. This capability allows each frigate to establish an area-denial zone and provide air defence over large areas, protecting ships, infrastructure and friendly forces.

The Aster 30 has a maximum range of 120 kilometres, while open sources place its kill zone beyond 60 kilometres.

Nearchos will load all 32 cells of its Sylver A50 vertical launch system with Aster 30 missiles. It will also receive additional missiles as stipulated in the procurement contract.

The frigate will also carry Exocet MM40 Block 3C anti-ship missiles for its two quadruple launchers, together with additional reserves.

The latest version of the Exocet features a digital radar seeker, a range approaching 250 kilometres and resistance to electronic countermeasures. It can strike both naval vessels and coastal targets.

Its weapons package will also include:

  • RAM missiles for the ship’s close-in air defence system.
  • MU90 torpedoes to engage enemy submarines.
  • 76mm ammunition for the main forward naval gun.

Formion and Themistoklis to follow

The Hellenic Navy has scheduled the flag-raising ceremony for its third FDI frigate, Formion, for 17 December.

Unlike the first two frigates, Formion will remain in France for upgrade work before its delivery to the Standard II Plus configuration in spring 2027.

The fourth frigate, Themistoklis, will follow around 18 months later. It will become the first Greek FDI frigate to receive the Sylver A70 launchers, equipped with Scalp Naval strategic cruise missiles with a range exceeding 1,000 kilometres.

(Source: AMNA)

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