Lorient (AFP) – In a concert of dull and shrill noises, amid the smell of iron from the Breton workshops of the French Naval Group in Lorient, the first sheets of the future Swedish frigate are cut, barely a month after the signing of the contract.

Published on: 02/10/2026 - 10:26

Faced with the Russian threat, the FDI (defense and intervention frigates), compact, multi-mission and equipped with anti-drone means, are finding more and more takers in Europe with Greek and Swedish contracts.

Member of NATO since 2024 and keen to strengthen air and naval defense in the Baltic and North Atlantic, Stockholm ordered four for 4.3 billion euros at the end of August with a first delivery scheduled for 2030, a very short deadline for a warship.

In Denmark, Naval Group is in the running against the British Babcock, as in Sweden, for four future frigates.

Five years ago, before the war in Ukraine, the public group which also builds submarines and the future French aircraft carrier had no commercial activity in Europe.

“Concentrated abilities”

“We have a design that is not just in PowerPoints, our frigate participates in operations” and “we can quickly serve our customers,” Jean-Marie, director of the Naval Group FDI program, explains to AFP. As with soldiers on mission, his name cannot be revealed for security reasons.

“The FDI is a concentration of combat-tested capabilities,” assures Michaël, marketing manager and former frigate commander.

With its Sea Fire radar that continuously monitors 360 degrees around the ship, the FDI can detect and track an aerial threat.

It has Aster missiles to intercept ballistic missiles and 20 mm cannons or close defense systems like the Rempart which allow drones to be destroyed with less expensive ammunition. A novelty to respond to the acute problem of asymmetric cost, when a very expensive missile is fired against a cheap drone.

The FDI is designed to be able to embark and use drones.

Hull sonar, towed sonar, Flash sonar submerged from a helicopter and acoustic buoys make it possible to detect a submarine at long range, before attacking it with torpedoes from the ship or the helicopter.

The shape of the hull, designed to break radar waves, reduces the ship's signature and makes it more difficult to detect, continuing Naval Group's know-how in submarines.

Six months less production

On the Lorient site, the frigates intended for France, Greece and Sweden are built in parallel, amid the din of the workshops, the agitation around immense steel structures to be welded.

At the dock, the frigate Amiral Louzeau, launched in May and due to be delivered to the French Navy at the end of 2027, still bears traces of the construction site: equipment protected by tarpaulins, cables running on the floors and installations currently being assembled.

To accelerate production, Naval Group is investing 15 million euros per year in modernizing the industrial process, according to site director Emmanuel Chol.

In the hull workshop, already cut steel parts bear an unambiguous marking: “FD8”, for the future Swedish frigate.

“This is where it all starts,” explains Hervé, operational expert.

“We took the initiative to start cutting sheet metal to make boats before even having the order. The first pieces for FD8 were cut in April. We signed the contract on August 31,” says Jean-Marie.

To save time, Naval Group is building an imposing structure parallel to the hull which brings together the frigate's radars, sensors and command center.

It is the “brain of the boat” called PSIM (Panoramic Sensors and Intelligence Module), a large tower which weighs around 150 tonnes and constitutes the heart of the combat system.

It will be connected to the rest of the boat and “from the first outing at sea, we can start testing the combat systems,” explains Hervé.

A process which saves “six months to a year” over four years in the manufacturing cycle of a frigate, underlines Jean-Marie.

© 2026 AFP

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