Sweden Considers Purchasing French Frigates as Alternative to National Luleå Project

Sweden is exploring alternative “off-the-shelf” solutions alongside Saab’s proposal as part of its upcoming Luleå-class frigate program for the Royal Swedish Navy.

According to Naval News, one of the key options under consideration is the potential acquisition of French-built frigates, which could serve as a complement—or even an alternative—to the domestically developed Luleå Project.

Among the options is the French FDI-type frigate, which is being considered as a potential candidate to meet the requirements of the Swedish Navy.

Although official negotiations have not yet begun, the roadmap signed in June to strengthen defense cooperation between France and Sweden — a result of the meeting between French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu and Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson at the Paris Air Show — indicates that the FDI has already been officially included among the candidates for Sweden’s next-generation surface combatant program.

The program in question is Ytstridsfartyg 2030 (YSF2030), also known as the Luleå-class, which envisions the development of four heavy corvettes with enhanced air defense capabilities and helicopter embarkation facilities.

Priority is being given to the domestic defense industry: Saab, through its Kockums division, has already received contracts to develop the basic design for this new class of warships.

The British company Babcock is also involved in the project, assisting in adapting the design to meet the specific requirements of the Swedish Navy.

FDI-Class Frigates

The FDI (Frégate de défense et d’intervention) class frigates are designed as multipurpose intermediate warships with a displacement of 4,250 tons. They are intended to complement the French Navy’s fleet between the larger FREMM-class frigates (6,000 tons) and the lighter Gowind-class corvettes (2,500 tons).

The FDI frigate is 121.6 meters long, 17.7 meters wide, and capable of reaching speeds of up to 27 knots. It has a range of up to 5,000 nautical miles.

The standard crew consists of 125 personnel, with accommodations for an additional 28.

The FDI is equipped with advanced sensors, including the Sea Fire multifunction radar system developed by Thales. Its integrated mast provides 360-degree surveillance coverage by combining the ship’s key observation and detection systems.

The frigate is the first vessel in its class to feature full cyber threat protection integrated from the design stage. Its architecture includes two separate data centers that will host the majority of the ship’s digital combat systems and applications.

The armament of the FDI frigates includes a 76mm naval gun, eight EXOCET MM40 BLOCK 3C anti-ship missiles (MBDA), four torpedo tubes equipped with MU90 torpedoes (Naval Group), 32 Aster 15/30 surface-to-air missiles, RAM short-range missiles, and a CANTO decoy launch system.

Notable representatives of the class include the Greek FDI HN frigates, named F-601 Kimon, F-602 Nearchos, and F-603 Formion.