Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation awarded ARMARIS (France) and Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (Italy) the first phase of the contract for development and building the new generation European multi-mission frigates (known as FREMM program). This initial phase covers the development, building and in-service support for the first eight frigates destined for the French Navy - six in an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) version, and two in a land-strike version. The contract, to be apportioned equally between DCN and Thales, both shareholders in ARMARIS, is valued at 3.5 billion euros.

The FREMM frigates will serve as front-line vessels with autonomous strike capabilities. They will allow the French Navy to carry out multiple missions linked to deterrence, crisis mitigation, maritime security, force projection, and deep land strikes with superior effectiveness based on a wide range of combat systems permanently installed onboard rather than for specific missions. The French frigates will be equipped with the Exocet anti-ship system, the Aster 15 vertically-launched air defense missile system, and torpedoes guided by a full suite of sonars. All systems were initially designed to be fully integrated with the naval cruise missile system. The vessels will be delivered in stages from 2011 to 2015. The entire program calls for building of 27 multi-mission frigates. The new frigates will replace three older types of vessels: F67 frigates, F70 frigates and Estienne d'Orves-class A69 Aviso frigates.