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France offers upgraded FDI frigate to Saudi Arabia with French MPLS instead of U.S. RAM system.
France has proposed an upgraded FDI frigate for Saudi Arabia featuring the French Multi-purpose and Modular Launching System (MPLS) in place of the U.S.-made RAM launcher.
At the World Defense Show 2026, France has proposed an upgraded FDI frigate for Saudi Arabia featuring the French Multi-purpose and Modular Launching System (MPLS) in place of the U.S.-made RAM launcher. The configuration, based on Greece's Kimon-class, was presented as part of the Kingdom’s ongoing frigate competition, which includes plans to acquire approximately five new surface combatants. The proposal also forms part of Naval Group’s broader export campaign for the FDI, which has also been marketed to Sweden, Indonesia, Denmark and Portugal.
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The French MPLS launcher could allow a reduction in the number of dedicated launchers carried, more flexible allocation of effects for different threat sets, and simplified logistics through the use of common launcher hardware with different ammunition types. (Picture source: Army Recognition)
France's Naval Group displayed an upgraded scale model of the FDI frigate configured for the Royal Saudi Navy, proposing a configuration similar to the Greek Navy’s Kimon subclass but replacing the U.S. RAM launcher with the new French Multi-purpose and Modular Launching System (MPLS). The display formed part of a broader competition to meet Saudi Arabia’s future frigate requirements as Riyadh evaluates several options to renew and expand its surface fleet. The proposal also reflects a wider commercial effort by Naval Group to position the FDI as a mid-size, high-capability combatant for navies seeking modern multi-mission frigates, with parallel approaches to European, Middle Eastern, and Asian customers.
On Greek FDI frigates, such as the HS Kimon (F-601) and her planned sisters, point defence against incoming aircraft and anti-ship missiles is provided by the Mk-31 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) 21-cell launcher for RIM-116 Block 2B surface-to-air missiles mounted on the hangar roof or nearby deck area. The RIM-116 missile itself is a lightweight guided surface-to-air weapon with a launch weight of about 73.5 kg, a blast fragmentation warhead of about 11.3 kg, and a design range of about 10 km, using passive radio frequency and infrared guidance modes to intercept agile targets in the close-in envelope. On Kimon-class ships, this American launcher complements the primary Sylver A50 vertical launch cells loaded with Aster 15/30 missiles and the ship’s other armaments including 32 Aster air defence missiles, eight MM40 Exocet Block 3C anti-ship missiles, a 76 mm gun, torpedo tubes with MU90 torpedoes, and decoy systems, forming a layered defensive arrangement intended to address threats across the near and extended battle space.
In contrast, the French Multi-purpose and Modular Launching System (MPLS) is designed as a configurable deck-mounted two-axis turret that accommodates multiple interchangeable ammunition modules with a combined payload of nearly 1,000 kg, allowing a single launcher to be fitted with rockets, short-range missiles, grenades, decoys, underwater weapons, or other effectors depending on mission requirements. This type of modular launcher can be operated in standalone mode or connected to a ship’s combat management system and is intended to offer self-defence against air, surface, and subsurface threats within a near field up to about eight kilometres, with the ability to reconfigure munitions loads without replacing the launcher itself. For a navy considering close-in defence solutions, this modular approach could allow a reduction in the number of dedicated launchers carried, more flexible allocation of effects for different threat sets, and simplified logistics through the use of common launcher hardware with different ammunition types, without an extensive and costly structural modification.
Operational employment of the MPLS, which recently achieved its first qualification firing of a 68 mm laser-guided rocket, is structured across three levels. In standalone mode, the turret can carry its own laser designator and independently designate targets for guided rockets, allowing engagement without reliance on the FDI’s main sensor suite. A second level connects the launcher to sensors located on the FDI asymmetric combat bridge, enabling fused onboard sensors to provide target designation data. A third level integrates the MPLS into the combat information center via the ship’s combat management system, allowing centralized control and coordination with other effectors such as Sylver vertical launch systems carrying Aster missiles. This layered approach is intended to engage lower-cost threats within approximately 8 kilometers, including drones, unmanned surface vehicles, loitering munitions, and small craft, while preserving the vertical launch capacity for supersonic or short-range ballistic threats.
The Frégate de Défense et d’Intervention (FDI) program was launched in 2015 to renew the French Navy’s first-rank frigate force and to replace the La Fayette-class ships with a more heavily armed and digitally integrated surface combatant positioned between the larger Aquitaine-class FREMM frigates and the Horizon-class air-defense destroyers, while also targeting export markets from the outset. Initially known as Frégate de Taille Intermédiaire, the program was renamed FDI in 2019, with five ships ordered for France and construction initiated at Naval Group’s Lorient shipyard, where the lead unit was laid down in December 2021 and delivered in October 2025. As the class matures, Naval Group is now developing a new French cold-launch vertical launch system intended to increase the FDI's missile capacity from a baseline of 16 Aster surface-to-air missiles to configurations reaching up to 64 missiles, allowing the ship to integrate CAMM and CAMM-ER missiles directly, without relying on the U.S.-made ExLS launcher.
For now, the FDI has a full-load displacement of 4,460 tonnes, a length of 122 meters, a beam of 17.7 meters, and a draft of about 6.4 meters, with a combined diesel and diesel propulsion arrangement delivering 32,000 kilowatts for a maximum speed of 27 knots and a range of 5,000 nautical miles at 15 knots, with endurance cited at 45 days. The crew complement stands at 125 plus additional accommodation, and core systems include the Naval Group SETIS 3.0 combat management system and the Thales SEA FIRE 4D AESA S-band multi-function radar with four fixed panels. Anti-submarine capability includes the KingKlip Mk2 hull-mounted sonar and the CAPTAS-4 Compact towed array sonar, while electronic warfare and decoy systems include a countermeasure system using CANTO anti-torpedo decoys. The standard armament fit comprises a 76 millimeter gun, eight Exocet MM40 Block 3C anti-ship missiles, 16 to 32 Sylver A50 cells for Aster 15 or Aster 30 missiles, depending on batch, Narwhal 20 millimeter remote weapon stations, and twin torpedo tubes for MU90.
Export activity for the FDI includes Greece, which signed in 2021 for three ships with a fourth approved later, creating the Kimon subclass with an enhanced air-defense fit; Sweden, where the design is positioned as a candidate for future surface combatant requirements in the 2030 to 2035 timeframe; Indonesia, which has been offered the FDI with options for local manufacturing and integration of Aster missiles and the SETIS combat system; Denmark, where France has promoted the design in the context of planned air-defense focused surface combatants; Portugal, which has evaluated modernization and renewal pathways for its frigate fleet; and now Saudi Arabia, where the current proposal features the MPLS in place of RAM as part of a broader competitive process, illustrating Naval Group’s effort to adapt the FDI to national requirements.
Saudi Arabia’s current frigate requirement is part of a broader naval modernization effort affecting both the Western Fleet in the Red Sea and the Eastern Fleet in the Arabian Gulf, known as the Saudi Naval Expansion Program II (SNEP II). Currently, the Royal Saudi Navy operates three Al Riyadh-class frigates derived from the French La Fayette design and four older Al Madinah-class frigates delivered in the 1980s, alongside more recent U.S. Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) frigates, such as the HMS King Saud (F820), launched in December 2025. However, the Al Madinah-class vessels are approaching the end of their operational life, and the Al Riyadh-class ships, although more recent, will also require mid-life upgrades or eventual replacement within the coming decade. Riyadh is therefore evaluating options for about five new frigates in the 6,000-tonne class, with expectations that a contractor could be selected in 2026. Potential candidates alongside the French FDI include, at the moment, the South Korean HDF-6000, the German MEKO A-200, the Italian FREMM, the British Type 26 and Type 31, as well as the Spanish F-110.
Written by Jérôme Brahy
Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.