Greece’s New HS Formion Frigate Begins Sea Trials With 32 Aster Missiles and Exocet Strike Weapons.

HS Formion (F-603), Greece’s third Kimon-class FDI HN frigate, has begun sea trials from Lorient, France, Naval Group confirmed, marking a key step toward giving the Hellenic Navy three modern air-defense frigates in the 2026 delivery cycle. The trials matter because they move the ship from shipyard checks to real at-sea validation, bringing Greece closer to replacing aging frigates with vessels built for air defense, anti-ship strike, and anti-submarine warfare.

The tests will validate propulsion, navigation, power generation, communications, ship handling, and combat-system integration before delivery. For US and NATO readers, Formion’s progress highlights Greece’s growing role in Eastern Mediterranean security, where modern frigates add survivability, missile reach, and stronger allied deterrence at sea.

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HS Formion (F-603), Greece’s third FDI HN/Kimon-class frigate, begins sea trials in Lorient with Aster air-defense missiles, Exocet MM40 Block 3c missiles, RAM, MU90 torpedoes, SeaFire radar, and helicopter/UAV capability (Picture source: Naval Group).

The FDI HN is a 4,500-ton frigate, about 122 meters long and 18 meters wide, with a reported maximum speed of 27 knots and aviation facilities for a 10-ton-class helicopter and a vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle. Its dimensions matter because the ship carries weapons and sensor fit closer to those of larger air-defense frigates while remaining suitable for the Aegean’s geography, where short reaction distances, island masking, dense civilian traffic, and overlapping air and surface threat axes complicate naval command decisions.

The principal difference between the Hellenic Navy’s FDI HN and the baseline French Navy FDI is the Greek requirement for a heavier missile load. Naval Group lists the Greek armament as 32 MBDA Aster missiles, eight MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3c anti-ship missiles, RAM missiles, a 76 mm gun, four torpedo tubes for MU90 torpedoes, and two launchers for CANTO anti-torpedo countermeasures. In operational terms, this gives each Kimon-class frigate an organic layered-defense structure: Aster for medium- and long-range air threats, RAM for point defense, the gun for close-range surface and air engagements, Exocet for maritime strike, and MU90 for submarine prosecution.

The Aster missile battery is the most important change for the Greek fleet's air defense. MBDA describes the Aster family as vertically launched, capable of 360-degree engagement, with speeds up to Mach 4.5 and a terminal dart using an active RF seeker; the system is designed to engage aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters, anti-radiation missiles, and supersonic or subsonic missile threats. For the Hellenic Navy, the practical value is not only the range of the missile but the ability of a frigate to protect other ships, ports of entry, logistics movements, and island reinforcement routes against air and missile attack without depending exclusively on shore-based air defenses.

The air-defense layer depends on the ship’s Thales SeaFire radar and combat management architecture. The fixed-panel AESA radar arrangement removes the time penalty of mechanically rotated sensors and supports continuous track management around the ship, a relevant feature in confined waters where a missile or aircraft can appear with limited warning from behind terrain or clutter. The tactical issue for Greece is not simply detecting a threat at long range; it is identifying, classifying, assigning weapons, and avoiding fratricide in an environment where NATO aircraft, commercial shipping, coastal radars, and unmanned systems may all be present simultaneously.

For anti-surface warfare, the Exocet MM40 Block 3c provides the FDI HN with a strike weapon that can be used against warships in both open-sea and littoral conditions. MBDA lists the missile at 530 kg, 4.7 meters in length, and 350 mm in diameter, with land-attack capability, multi-target use, all-weather employment, 3D waypoint programming, optimized trajectories, and simultaneous terminal attacks by multiple missiles. This matters tactically because a frigate does not need to attack along a predictable straight line; it can use waypointed profiles to approach from a chosen bearing, complicating the defender’s radar picture and close-in weapon engagement sequence.

RAM gives the ship its final missile-defense layer. The U.S. Navy describes the RIM-116 as a lightweight, quick-reaction, fire-and-forget missile for anti-ship cruise missiles and asymmetric air or surface threats, with no shipboard illuminator support needed after launch. The Block 2 version entered service in May 2015 and introduced kinematic and guidance improvements for maneuvering and low-probability-of-intercept threats; the Mk49 launcher carries 21 missiles. On the FDI HN, RAM reduces the risk that the ship must use Aster missiles against every inbound threat, preserving longer-range interceptors for higher-value targets.

The anti-submarine fit is also central to the ship’s value. The MU90 is a 2,850 mm, 323.7 mm diameter, 304 kg lightweight torpedo with a speed range of 30 to 50 knots, a 12 km range, and an operating depth from 3 meters to at least 500 meters. Naval Group states that the torpedo can be launched from surface ships or aircraft, operates in deep and shallow waters, carries a shaped charge, and uses autonomous fire-and-forget mission logic capable of reorienting and conducting multiple attack runs. For Greek crews, that gives the frigate a credible response against submarines operating near chokepoints, island chains, or deeper Eastern Mediterranean patrol areas.

Formion’s aviation capacity extends the ship’s sensor and weapon radius beyond the hull. A 10-ton helicopter, such as the MH-60R category used by the Hellenic Navy, can deploy dipping sonar, sonobuoys, radar, and torpedoes at a distance from the frigate, while a VTOL unmanned aerial vehicle can support surface surveillance, over-the-horizon identification, and targeting support without exposing the ship’s position as quickly. This combination is important because Exocet employment at extended range depends on reliable targeting, and anti-submarine warfare is normally a distributed effort rather than a single-ship function.

The industrial aspect is not secondary. Naval Group states that Salamis Shipyard in Greece has built blocks for the FDI series and that around 70 Greek companies are integrated into the supply chain, meaning the program contributes to naval modernization while creating a support base that may reduce sustainment risk over the service life of the class. This local industrial participation also helps Greece build experience in complex naval construction and integration work, which can be relevant for future maintenance, repair, upgrade, and support activities.

The tactical effect of Formion entering trials is therefore measurable rather than symbolic. Once Kimon, Nearchos, and Formion are operational, Greece will have three modern frigates with area air-defense missiles, point-defense RAM, long-range anti-ship missiles, organic torpedoes, embarked aviation, and modern sensors. That force will not remove the need for submarines, maritime patrol aircraft, shore-based missiles, or fighter cover, but it gives the Hellenic Navy a more survivable surface combatant around which task groups can be formed. For a navy operating in contested waters, the main value of the FDI HN is not one individual weapon but the integration of radar, missiles, torpedoes, decoys, aviation, and command systems into a ship able to escort, deny access, and hold surface forces at risk under compressed tactical timelines.

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