In many aspects, the defense and intervention frigate, or FDI, the new workhorse of the French Naval Group, has all the assets to attract the Norwegian Navy, to replace its Fridtjof Nansen class frigates.
Compact, the French frigate has dimensions adapted to operate in the very particular geography of the Norwegian coast. However, it undeniably stands out as the best anti-submarine warfare ship of the moment, and one of the most efficient in terms of air defense. Better yet, it is significantly less expensive than the American, German and British ships, which are opposed to it in this competition.
However, in this competition, Oslo and the Norwegian Navy have expectations that go well beyond the frigate that will be proposed. Will Naval group and France be able to meet these requirements? Hard to say…
The replacement of the Fridtjof Nansen class frigates of the Norwegian Navy
Concretely, Olso included in its 2025-2036 military programming law the acquisition of 5 or 6 new frigates, specialized in anti-submarine warfare and equipped with a naval helicopter, to replace the 4 remaining frigates of the Fridtjof Nansen class, acquired from the Spanish Navantia, and delivered from 2006 to 2011.
The new frigates will enter service at the start of the next decade, while the Fridtjof Nansen will only have 25 years of service. Indeed, everything indicates that the tragic loss of the frigate Helge Hingstat, in November 2018, following a port collision, will have considerably reduced the confidence of the Royal Norwegian Navy in these ships, even though they are very well equipped.
We will note, in this respect, the absence of Navantia, but also of Damen and Fincantieri, in the list of four manufacturers selected to participate in the final phase of the competition, which is made up exclusively of very experienced partners in the field of military shipbuilding, and renowned for the reliability of their ships.
It will also be the last major competition for the modernization of the surface fleet of a major European navy. We understand, in these conditions, that Oslo and the The Navyliterally naval defense, are very demanding in the choice of ship, and especially in the choice of partner.
Oslo is looking for an experienced partner more than a ship in this program
Indeed, the Norwegian competition is not so much organized to obtain the best budget offer for a vessel with established performance as to create a long-term partnership between the Norwegian naval industry and that of the selected country.
It is interesting to note, in this respect, that the Norwegian press release, which announced the list of four finalists selected for this competition, cites not ship builders or models, but countries.
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