First French FDI frigate starts sea trials

The first French FDI frigate embarked on its maiden voyage on 7 October. (French MoD)

The French Navy's lead Frégate de Défense et d'Intervention (FDI) defence and intervention frigate has officially started sea trials.

First-of-class Amiral Ronarc'h (D 660) set sail from Naval Group's Lorient shipyard on 7 October, French Minister of Defence Sébastien Lecornu confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) the same day.

Amiral Ronarc'h is the first of five FDI frigates being built by Naval Group for the French Navy under a contract awarded in 2017.

Starting construction in 2019, the lead ship was laid down in December 2021 and launched on 7 November 2022. Following the completion of sea trials Amiral Ronarc'h will be delivered to the French Navy in 2025, with the four remaining frigates to follow by 2030.

The second ship destined for France and the fifth in the FDI series overall, Amiral Louzeau (D 661), started construction in July 2023. Meanwhile, during a media visit to Lorient on 4 October, Naval Group confirmed that construction of the French Navy's third FDI (the sixth in the series overall) is also now under way.

Concurrently, Naval Group is building three FDI frigates for the Hellenic Navy (HN), with an option for a fourth, under a contract awarded in March 2022. To meet Greece's tight delivery schedule (two in 2025 and one in 2026), the second and third FDI frigates originally planned to be delivered to the French Navy are being completed as FDI HN ships, and Naval Group is ramping up the FDI production ‘drumbeat' to deliver two ships per year from 2025.