Military Procurement International Vol. 18, No. 9, May 1, 2008
Copyright DAPSS S.A., 200
8, Switzerland. It is unlawful to reproduce any of this publication without written permission from the publisher.
GREECE
New
frigate competition warms up
Though the Greek Defence Ministry said in 2006 that it
wanted to build six new frigates for the Hellenic
Navy during the EMPAE defence procurement budget for the period 2006-2010,
for E2.8 billion, industry observers said that the budget was only likely to
cover four ships (MPI November 1,
2006, page 1).
The
competition for the new Greek frigates is now beginning to warm up, with
France’s DCNS shipyard group opening its first representative office in
Athens. This builds on a cooperation agreement signed with the local Elefsis
Shipyards in 2006. DCNS is
offering the local build of 4-6 6,000t FREMM frigates, to the design for the French Navy, which has so far ordered eight ships of the class.
Other
bidders are expected to include: Italy’s Orizzonte
Sistemi Navali consortium, between the shipyard Fincantieri and the Finmeccanica
group (offering the Italian Navy
version of the FREMM frigate); Germany’s ThyssenKrupp
Marine Systems teamed with its subsidiary Hellenic Shipyards (Meko-D); the Dutch Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (Sigma class); Denmark’s Odense
Shipyard (F361 Patrol Frigate); and Spain’s Navantia
(F310 Fridjof Nansen class). ©
DAPSS S.A., 2008, Switzerland