On Thursday, April 2, 2026, French company Naval Group and the Directorate General of Armaments (Direction générale de l’Armement, DGA) under France’s Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans announced that on Tuesday, March 31, a contract had been concluded for the delivery to the French Navy (Marine nationale) of a fifth unit of the new-generation Amiral Ronarc’h-class guided-missile frigate, based on the Belharra design, under the FDI program (Frégates de Défense et d’Intervention).
Photo: Naval Group
The ship will be named FS Amiral Cabanier (D664) and will enter service in 2032. Earlier, in December 2025, the fourth ship, FS Amiral Nomy (D663), was ordered; it is to enter service in 2031.
On October 17, 2025, the lead ship FS Amiral Ronarc’h (D660) entered service and is currently undergoing its first operational trials. Two further ships are under construction: the future FS Amiral Louzeau (D661) and Amiral Castex (D662), ordered on March 29, 2021. The former is to be launched very soon and delivered in 2027, while the latter will enter service in 2029 or 2030.
Beyond France, Greece has also decided to acquire ships of this type. The contract for the purchase of three FDI HN frigates plus one optional vessel was signed on March 24, 2022 (following an intergovernmental agreement of December 11, 2021, worth approximately 5 billion EUR). On October 4, 2023, the first of them, HS Kimon (F-601), was launched. It had been undergoing sea trials since May last year and entered service on January 15 this year (most recently, it was deployed to Cyprus on its first mission in connection with the ongoing war in the Middle East). In the meantime, the second ship, HS Nearchos (F-602), was launched on September 19, 2024, and the third, HS Formion (F-603), on June 4, 2025. Deliveries are to be completed in 2026. Under the aforementioned option, a fourth ship was also ordered, the future HS Temistokles (F-604), which will be delivered in early 2028.
Description
FDI/Belharra-class guided-missile frigates have an overall length of 122 m, a beam of 17.7 m, and a displacement of 4,250 t. According to the manufacturer, the frigate will reach a top speed of 27–29 knots, while at a cruising speed of 15 knots its range will exceed 9,200 km. The ship’s complement is to consist of 110 officers and sailors, as well as 15 aviation personnel. The stern will provide space, with a hangar, for one medium NH90 Caïman helicopter or its successor, the Airbus H160M Guépard, as well as an Airbus VSR700 unmanned aerial vehicle. Additional equipment will include two 9.5-meter hybrid RHIBs.
In the original French configuration, the ships are fitted with 16 Sylver A50 vertical launch cells for Aster 15/30 surface-to-air and anti-missile missiles. However, according to information released on November 4, 2025, the parliament’s armed forces committee approved a change to the weapons configuration of the fourth and fifth ships, followed later by the modernization of the first three. The plan is to double the number of Sylver A50 launch cells to 32 (as in the export FDI HN version).
The remaining armament includes an OTO Melara 76 mm Super Rapid naval gun, two quadruple launchers for MBDA MM40 Exocet Block III/C anti-ship missiles, twin launchers for EuroTorp MU90 lightweight torpedoes, heavy machine guns, and SYLENA DLS decoy launchers. Installation of the Narwhal remotely operated 20 mm weapon station is also possible.
The electronic suite includes an X-band surface-search radar, the Thales SEA FIRE S-band multifunction radar, the Thales STIR 1.2 EO Mk2 electro-optical fire-control system, the Thales Kingklip Mk II hull-mounted sonar, the CAPTAS-4CI towed sonar, the Thales Alenia Altesse-H communications and electronic warfare support system, the Thales BlueGate identification friend-or-foe system, the Aquilon integrated digital communications system, Safran PASEO XLR electro-optical sensors, and satellite communications.
31.03.2026@DGA a notifié à Naval Group la commande pour la construction d'une 5ème #FDI pour la @MarineNationale.
🔹🔹🔹
Naval Group notified of the order for 5th FDI for the French Navy.
⬇️ pic.twitter.com/RcDAADi3Oz— Naval Group (@navalgroup) April 2, 2026
[#Commande] Frégate de défense et d’intervention (FDI)
La DGA vient de commander à @navalgroup une 5e #FDI destinée à la @MarineNationale
— Direction générale de l'armement 🇫🇷 (@DGA) April 2, 2026
La première FDI, l’"Amiral Ronarc’h", a été livrée à la Marine nationale le 17 octobre 2025 et réalise actuellement son déploiement de longue durée.
Les livraisons restantes s’échelonneront de 2027 à 2032.
— Direction générale de l'armement 🇫🇷 (@DGA) April 2, 2026