Two Fast Attack Missile Crafts and one Type 214 submarine will be delivered to the Hellenic Navy before the end of the year and will be commissioned together with three more submarines next year.
The first two crafts are the refurbished Laskos-class (Int. La Combattante IIIa), HS Mikonios (P-22) Fast Attack Missile Craft, and the Roussen-class (Int. Super Vita), HS Ritsos (P-71) Fast Attack Missile Craft. In addition, the first submarine will be the Type 214 submarine HS Katsonis (S-123).
The first vessel was refurbished with three more Fast Attack Missile Crafts of the same class and delivered to the Hellenic Navy in October 2009, but on January 5 2010 HS Mikonios (P-22) was severely damaged by a fire that started in the engine room.
For almost four years the vessel was withdrawn from active duty. Eventually repaired, the vessel is currently undergoing sea trials.
The initial refurbishment and upgrade program of the Laskos-class Fast Attack Missile Crafts included the installation and integration of TACTICOS combat management system, four multifunctional operator consoles (MOC) Mk3, the ESM system DR300SLW, the installation and integration of Variant 2D surveillance radar, the LIROD Mk2 fire control tracking system, the MIRADOR electro-optical tracking and fire control system, the SCOUT Mk2 surface search radar and the BridgeMaster-E navigation radar.
Furthermore the equipment of the vessel included MDM-2002 tactical data Link-11 system and the internal communication system WISPR-Net from Intracom Defense Electronics.
The weapons systems of the Laskos-class, have not been changed. The armament of the Laskos-class vessels include 4 MM38 Exocet Surface to Surface missiles, two OTO-Melara 76/62mm compact guns, two twin Emerson Electric 30mm guns and two 533mm aft torpedo tubes TORO S-5/3 for two SST-4 torpedoes.
The previous counter measures system for flares and chaff (Mk34 RBOC) has been replaced by the newer ALEX system with two Mk137 units with twelve 130mm cartridges.
The new refurbishment program of HS Mikonios (P-22), includes the replacement of all the subsystems that were destroyed by the fire and according to the latest information the vessel fulfills the expectations of the Hellenic Navy.
The second Fast Attack Missile Craft that is currently undergoing sea trial tests and it is expected to be delivered to the Hellenic Navy before the end of the year, is the Roussen-class (Int. Super Vita), HS Ritsos (P-71).
It is the fifth of the seven total vessels of the Roussen-class shipbuilding program. HS Ritsos (P-71) was built at Elefsis Shiyards in Greece, where the remaining two vessels of the program HS Karathanasis (P72) and HS Vlahakos (P73) are under construction.
Finally, next month the Hellenic Navy is going to accept for sea trials the fourth and last vessel of the shipbuilding program, a Type 214 Papanikolis-class submarine. The HS Katsonis (S-123) is at the last stage of its harbour acceptance tests and next month is going to be delivered to the Hellenic Navy for sea trials that will last until the end of the year.
Three more submarines, one Type 209/1200 AIP, Poseidon-class and two Type 214 Papanikolis-class, are to undergo sea acceptance tests simultaneously from the Hellenic Navy before they are commissioned. It is intended that most of them, the HS Okeanos (S-118), HS Pipinos (S-121), HS Matrozos (S-122) and HS Katsonis (S-123), will be commissioned gradually into the Hellenic Navy next year.