Hellenic Navy Announces Major Surface Fleet Modernization Plans

The Hellenic Navy unveils ambitious plans to modernize its surface fleet by 2030, including new acquisitions, upgrades, and domestic production, to enhance operational capability and address long-standing gaps. These comprehensive efforts aim to build a more standardized, capable, and efficient naval force for Greece.

On May 23, 2024, at the CNE 2024 Navy Leaders Conference, Commodore Panagiotis Karavas, Deputy Director of the Armaments Directorate for the Hellenic Navy (HN), detailed ambitious plans for modernizing the Hellenic Navy's surface fleet. The goal is to upgrade and standardize the fleet by 2030, addressing long-standing gaps and enhancing operational capability.

Key Challenges and Strategic Objectives

Commodore Karavas highlighted the primary challenge: the absence of a comprehensive modernization plan for the Navy's larger ships, particularly frigates. To remedy this, the Hellenic Navy aims to:

• Maximize commonalities across the fleet to simplify maintenance.
• Enhance availability and operational readiness.
• Standardize ship types to reduce costs.

The HN's strategy includes purchasing new ships from abroad, upgrading existing vessels, and building new ships domestically.

Six Key Modernization Projects

The Commodore outlined six major projects for fleet renewal:

1. FDI Frigates: 

• The FDI (Frégate de Défense et d'Intervention) program is progressing well. The lead ship, Kimon (F601), is under construction. These frigates, at 4,550 tons, are significantly larger than their predecessors.
• The frigates will be equipped with ASTER 30 surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and EXOCET MM40 Block 3C guided missiles.
• Contracts are divided into construction, missile acquisition, and follow-on support.

2. New Corvettes:

• Greece plans to acquire 3+1 new corvettes and is considering designs from Naval Group, Fincantieri, and Damen.
• At least two corvettes will be constructed in Greek shipyards.
• The HN is refining its requirements based on recent operational experiences and regional conflicts.

3. Constellation-class Frigates:

• The HN aims to co-produce Constellation-class frigates in Greece, potentially for other customers as well.
• This project involves developing a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) planning case to upgrade Greek shipyard capabilities.

4. Hydra-class Modernization:

• The four Hydra-class frigates will undergo a mid-life upgrade (MLU) to extend their service life by 15 years.
• The upgrade includes new equipment and systems to address obsolescence.
• The program is expected to take up to four years per ship once contracts are signed.

5. Fast Attack Craft (FAC):

• The Roussen-class FACs will receive a mid-life upgrade to enhance their operational capability.
• Plans are in place to procure up to nine new FACs to replace aging Combattante IIIA and IIIB FACs.

6. Patrol Boats:

• An ongoing FMS case includes the upgrade of four Island-class coastal patrol vessels.
• Additional plans involve acquiring three Protector-class and two more Island-class patrol boats.
• All vessels will receive modern equipment, including new weapon systems and sensors.

Special Operations Craft (SOC)

The Hellenic Navy has developed the Agenor SOC, an 18-meter boat designed and built in Greece to meet special operations needs. There are plans to adapt the Agenor design into an unmanned surface vehicle (USV).

Conclusion

The Hellenic Navy's comprehensive modernization plan aims to significantly enhance its capabilities by 2030. Through a mix of international partnerships, domestic production, and upgrades, the HN is set to build a more standardized, capable, and efficient fleet to meet current and future operational demands.