The information was officially published by the GDDIA:
“In the margins of the NATO Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD), which was concluded on the 27th of October, a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the possible transfer of 2 M-class frigates and 6 Mine Counter Measures Vessels to the Hellenic Navy was signed between the GDDIA General Director, Vice Adm. (rtd) Aristeidis Alexopoulos, and his Dutch counterpart, Director of Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO), Vice Admiral Arie Jan de Waard. “
GDDIA release
The two Karel Doorman-class frigates still in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy today are HNLMS Van Amstel (F831) and HNLMS Van Speijk (F828). Van Speijk however was laid up this summer due to staff shortage. According to the reliable Dutch naval defense media Marineschepen, the transfer of the two M-class frigates to Greece before the arrival of their replacement (the Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigate or ASWF), while unlikely, is not impossible. A DMO source told Marineschepen: “The aim is to match the sale of the frigates as closely as possible to the arrival of the ASWFs, because the Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy has indicated that it will in principle not accept a gap in the anti-submarine warfare capacity.”
For the record, Greece was initially looking for second-hand vessels as an interim solution to quickly fill a capability gap until the arrival of new generation frigates. The two M-class frigates were initially being offered to the Hellenic Navy as part of the Dutch package as we reported at the time.
In the end, Greece signed an MOU with France in September 2021 for the supply of three FDI HN frigates (plus one in option). The need for more ships, to bring more capabilities to the Hellenic Navy remains however. The Greek MoD budget however is limited. According to our information, rumors from Greece mention that the modernization of the Hydra-class (MEKO) frigates (the third focus of the Hellenic Navy’s fleet modernization plan) could be canceled. The second-hand Dutch frigates and new-built Gowind corvettes could be replacing the Hydra-class while the older Elli-class frigates would reportedly remain in service for the time being. While this scenario doesn’t seem to make logical choice, it could be the only option for the Hellenic Navy if the quotation price for the two used frigates is too high.
