The two ‘secrets’ of the 4th Belh@rra

The latest touches have also come in Wednesday, June 4, from the Lorian shipyard in Brittany and with the backdrop of the third frigate of the « Kimon » class, the « Formion », the Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias, the Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias acquired as the relevant signatures entered.

This means that if everything flows according to the new planning, the Navy in 2028 will be shielded by four belh@rra frigates.

The fourth Belh@rra will be called « Themistocles » and will be even more sophisticated than the other three.

Athens aims to construct Greek defense industries close to 25%, while the details of the Greek -French agreement are expected to be informed tomorrow for the details of the Greek -French agreement at a closed parliament.

It is noteworthy that, according to the weekly French newspaper Le Canard Enchaine, part of the new contract – assembly, welding, technical support – will now be entrusted to Greek yards.

The French report speaks of a contract of 900m euros in the new Greek frigate.

It should be noted that the cost of the first three frigates is estimated at around € 3 billion along with their weapons, which means that the fourth frigate is costly at a lower amount.

This, well -informed sources, had been put on the French side as a condition for reaching the agreement, as – as they admit to Paris – the acquisition of French weapons systems from our country has also been a significant degree and as a « bargain » for the products of the French Defense Industry.

In addition, as they also mention in Paris, the final configuration that Athens wants for these ships makes them even more honorable, as the volume of fire they can have compared to the French so far for their own.

As they point out, French frigates with the Greek weapon load in their final configuration will be ships that can attempt the most dangerous and demanding business theaters.

What seems to be in the second year in the four frigates is the ability to bring and launch the Scalp Naval strategic impact missiles with a range of more than 1,000 kilometers.

What at least the Greek side expects to proceed with the acquisition of the naval version of these Cruz rockets is to certify the SYLver A-70’s vertical rocket launchers, so that they can also launch ASTER anti-aircraft missiles, with whom they will be acquired first.

It should be noted that by the end of 2025 the Greek Navy will take the first frigate Belh@rra, « Kimon ».

Since November 2024 there has been a group of 40 executives of the Navy trainees in the state -of -the -art frigates who will completely put the Greek fleet in the 21st century.

As the « NEWS » have already mentioned, for the second frigate, « Nearchos », the crew that will take over it has come out.

The second frigate was stuck on September 19, 2024 in the presence of the Minister of National Defense and other members of the political and military leadership. The PSIM (radar tower and other electronic systems) was installed after the ship was seized.

Work is ongoing normally and has been transferred to the test area for a 5 -month trial period.

The assembly and disposal of the Data Center, the Battle Management System and the multiple radar functions have already been implemented.

The ship is going to be moved tomorrow to a new dock due to the forthcoming downturn of the third Greek frigate, the « Forms », which will take its place.

And this process is expected to be watched by Nikos Dendias. The psim of the « Forms » is also in the construction phase to be mounted after it is brought.

The key features of the four frigates include 76mm OTO Melara cannon with the possibility of using Vulcano ammunition, which are particularly effective against unmanned aircraft, RAM launchers with 21 rockets and 20mm Narwal firearms for nearby protection of 30 mm. With the 16 that will have French ships according to their configuration so far, of course the SEafire AESA radar, active electronic scan with up to 500 km for air targets and 80 km for marine.

At the same time, they will have been equipped with eight Exocet rockets on ships, while ensuring concomitant air and sea surveillance, Aster missile fire control and stealth threat detection.

They will also have a CAPTAS-4 sonar (sliding), high-sensitivity to anti-submarine war, capable of detecting silent long-distance underwater underwater, and kingklip, hull sonar for additional detection. Electronic warfare suite including interference, countermeasures (chaffs, flares) and threat detection, enhancing survival over electronic attacks. The latest, but equally important « asset » of these ships will be Romeo’s anti-submarine helicopters and unmanned S-100 helicopters.