New frigate Kimon is seen sailing towards Salamina Naval Base, off Athens, as the Olympias, a reconstruction of a 5th century BC Athenian trireme, escorts the ship. [John Liakos/Intime News]
Greece’s leadership welcomed on Thursday the Hellenic Navy’s first FDI-class frigate, Kimon (F-601), marking a new era for Greece’s Armed Forces.
“Today, Greece is getting stronger…thanks to the arrival of Kimon, a 6th generation vessel, which will strengthen the Navy and the deterrent power of our homeland,” President Konstantinos Tasoulas told journalists on board the ship.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis hailed Kimon as “another link in a continuous effort to modernize the [Greek] Armed Forces, both in terms of the means they have at their disposal and in terms of strengthening human resources, so that the deterrent capacity of our country is not questioned by anyone and our country projects its strength as a pole of stability and solvency in the Eastern Mediterranean, with ever greater effectiveness.”
He said three more state-of-the-art frigates will join the Hellenic Navy within the next 18 months.
On his side, Defence Minister Nikos Dendias described the FDI frigate as “the most powerful on the planet.”
“It is a weapon that will strengthen the Armed Forces in their basic mission, which is to deter any aggression, to ensure the security of Greek society, Greek citizens, our homeland, to ensure our sovereignty and sovereign rights. This is its mission,” he said.
The arrival of the new French-made ship signals “the transition to another era,” initiated with the defence ministry’s 2030 agenda of reforms aimed at modernising the Armed Forces, he added. “The Armed Forces are moving into the 21st century at a rapid and steady pace.”
The frigate has state-of-the-art, digital air defense systems and anti-submarine power, including the Aster-30 anti-aircraft missiles for the A50 launchers mounted on the bow, the Exocet MM40 Block 3C surface-to-surface missiles, the MU90 lightweight torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare operations, the RAM missiles, the Oto Melara 76 mm gun, and the two 20 mm Lionfish remote-controlled machine guns stand out.
The new frigate is capable of providing strategic deterrence and upgrading the power of the Greek fleet in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.