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Russian Shipbuilders Oppose Domestic Mistral Construction LANGKAWI (Malaysia), March 29 (RIA Novosti) – Russia should not build a second pair of French-designed Mistral-class amphibious assault ships, as Russian shipbuilders are capable of designing and building their own vessels of this type, a senior defense industry official said on Friday. “The United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) will welcome the decision to limit the construction of Mistral-class ships to two [in France], because it is not a political issue anymore but rather an issue of the future development of domestic [shipbuilding] enterprises,” USC vice president Igor Zakharov said at the LIMA-2013 arms show...

French Warship for Russia 'Won't Work in Cold' - Minister MOSCOW, January 26 (RIA Novosti) - Two amphibious assault ships bought for the Russian Navy from France in a 1.2 billion euro deal will not be able to operate in temperatures below seven degrees centigrade, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin admitted on Saturday, in critical comments about the contract. "It's very odd that ships for offloading a landing force, floating in our latitudes won't work in temperatures below seven degrees," said Rogozin, who has special responsibilities for the defense industry, in a meeting of the Academy of Military Science...

DCNS continues BPC (Mistral LHD) design modifications for Russian Navy DCNS is supplying two BPC-type projection and command vessels to Russia under a contract that came into effect at the end of 2011. Three of these vessels are already in service with the French Navy. The design modifications needed to adapt the BPC concept to Russia's specific requirements are progressing as planned. The design modifications are being conducted in two phases. The first phase ended in April 2012 with the successful completion of the Preliminary Design Review. Detailed design studies were launched immediately afterwards, and this second phase is scheduled...

Russia to sign deal for 2 more French warships by yearend Mistral-class amphibious assault ship © AFP/ Eric Feferberg 17:24 07/09/2011 Russia will sign a contract with France for the third and fourth Mistral-class amphibious assault ships before the end of this year, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Wednesday. "I believe we should complete the negotiating process and have these contracts signed before the end of the year," he said. The two new warships will be built in Russia, he added. Russia is also buying related technology and has two crews being trained in France, the minister said....

Navy to Operate Mistral Missiles for First Time (Source: Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense; dated Aug. 23, 2011) The South Korean Navy is planning to load man-portable Surface to Air Missiles (SAM), so-called Mistral, to all patrol boats in operation in due order to use them in antiaircraft and antiship defense purpose. “The Navy will load Mistrals onto patrol boats that are deployed in the Yellow Sea [near the Northern Limit Line] starting the end of this month,” said an official under the Naval Operations Command. “Eventually, all patrol boats will be equipped with such weapon and we...

A purchase of French-built Mistral class amphibious assault ships by Russia poses a threat to U.S. security and is aimed against Washington's allies, the chairwoman of the U.S. House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee has said. "It is deeply troubling that France, a NATO ally, has decided to ignore the clear danger of selling advanced warships to Russia even as Moscow is taking an increasingly hostile approach toward the U.S., its neighbors, and Europe itself," Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement. The deal has alarmed Russia's neighbors, especially Georgia, whose relations with Russia remain very tense since the August 2008...

Russian shipbuilders, military in conflict over Mistral deal 06:40 08/02/2011MOSCOW, February 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) has been taken out of the contractual talks with France on the purchase of Mistral class amphibious assault ships, a Russian business daily said Tuesday. The Kommersant newspaper cited anonymous defense industry sources as saying state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport will represent Russia in direct talks with France's DCNS from now on. Kommersant speculates that the removal of the USC from the talks could be the result of the company's aspirations to acquire a status of an "independent dealer" on the...

Russia, France sign warship agreement (Update 3) Mistral-class helicopter carrier © RIA Novosti. Aleksei Danichev Moscow and Paris on Tuesday signed an agreement to jointly build Mistral-class helicopter carriers for the Russian Navy. The agreement was signed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and French Defense Minister Allain Juppe in the presence of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. In all, four warships are to be built, Sechin said. Russia's input to the construction of the first Mistral-class warship will be 20% and 40% in the second, he said. The third and fourth ships are to be built in Russia, whose...

France wins tender to build warships for Russia (Update 1) Topic: Russia's purchase of French Mistral-class warship Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy over the phone that France has won a tender to build amphibious assault ships for Russia. The winner is a consortium comprised of French DCNS and Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), the Kremlin press service said. At the initial stage, two Mistral-class helicopter carriers will be built jointly by France and Russia with another two to be constructed later in Russia. Russia will perform 20% of the construction work at the STX shipyard...

Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov on Sunday confirmed the ministry's plans to buy two foreign helicopter carriers for the Russian Navy and eventually produce vessels of this class on Russian soil. "We are speaking about the purchase of two helicopter carriers. Moreover, we are going to buy them with full technical documentation so that eventually we can produce them at our enterprises," Serdyukov said in an interview with Vesti Nedeli TV program. In early October, Russia's Defense Ministry announced an international tender for the construction of two amphibious assault ships for the Russian Navy. Previously, Russia held negotiations with France's...

France is ready to supply its helicopter carrier ships to Russia without any restrictions in the transfer of technology. This came in a statement by Director of the French naval defense company DCNS Pierre Legros at the Euronaval exhibition in Paris. Earlier, media reports said that the Mistrals would have no built-in domestic navigation technologies. Moscow intends to purchase at least four ships of that class. Meanwhile, the Russian helicopter carrier tender may involve an Italian company, Editor-in-Chief of the online magazine Moscow Defense Brief, Mikhail Barabanov said, referring to the amphibious assault ship presented by Italian ship builder Fincantieri....

The recent Russian decision to buy four Mistral amphibious assault ships from France is just the beginning. According to the Russian Defense Minister, Russia will seek more Western weapons and military equipment. Russia is planning to spend over $600 billion in the next decade to replace aging Cold War gear. The Defense Ministry insists that the Mistral deal is but the first of many. Russia already has a deal with Israel, to build a factory in Russia to build Israeli UAVs under license. This arrangement may be aborted because the Israelis apparently expect Russia to stop selling advanced weapons to...

Russia is interested in purchasing Mistral class amphibious assault ships from France only together with the accompanying technology, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on the eve of a visit to France. Russia is negotiating the purchase of at least one French-built Mistral-class amphibious assault ship and plans to build three more vessels of the same class in partnership with the French naval shipbuilder DCNS. "For us, this deal is interesting only if it is accomplished with a parallel transfer of technology, so that our shipbuilders - both civilian and military - receive a new technological boost for development," Putin said...

Closing in for the kill, Russia is said to be in final talks to buy a flotilla of four French helicopter-carriers - a deal massive both in terms of the vessels' size and their price tag. "At the moment we are in pre-contract talks on the warships with three states: Spain, the Netherlands and France. We plan to sign a contract for four of these ships," said Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. Serdyukov said Russia would like at least three of the vessels to be built with the help of Russian shipbuilders, including one at a Russian shipyard. Talks to...

Russian Ka-52 Alligator helicopters may be the best choice to arm Mistral helicopter carriers, which Russia plans to purchase from France, the chief of Russian helicopter holding said on Wednesday. Russia negotiates the purchase of at least one Mistral-class amphibious assault ship, worth 400-500 million euros (around $530-$660 million) and plans to build three more vessels of the same class in partnership with a French naval shipbuilder. The director of the Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation in April told RIA Novosti the political decision on the Mistral's purchase had already been taken. "The French have said the Ka-52 could be...

The chief of the Russian General Staff said Thursday that Russia would only buy a fully-equipped Mistral-class amphibious assault ship from France. Russia is negotiating the purchase of a Mistral-class ship from France, worth 400-500 million euros (around $540-$675 million). Russia could also use French technology later to build another three such vessels in Russia in partnership with the French naval shipbuilder DCNS. "Russia's leadership and Defense Ministry have a clear position on the issue. Should a final decision be made on Mistral, we will purchase this ship only if it is fully equipped - with all control and navigation...

The tsunami of political devastation known as Barack Obama continues to wreak havoc abroad, both for American interests specifically and the cause of freedom and democracy generally (the two are often, happily, one and the same). The disastrous consequences are most clearly visible in the case of Vladimir Putin's Russia. First Obama visited Russia and displayed craven weakness before his KGB counterparts in the Kremlin. He barely even paid lip service to American values, crushing the spirits of Russia's democracy movement leaders, and his unilateral reversal of the Bush missile defense plan for Eastern Europe led only to more posturing...

France's plan to sell Moscow four warships has triggered anger in former Soviet republics now firmly anchored in the European Union and NATO, fearful their new western allies underestimate the Kremlin. In interviews with AFP, top officials in the Baltic states questioned France's willingness to go ahead with what would be an unprecedented transfer of advanced military technology by a NATO member to Russia. They insisted that, while they too want better ties with their Soviet-era master, Paris's stance is wrong-headed and sends the wrong signal to a Moscow government already all-too keen to assert itself in its region. France...

serving President Nicolas Sarkozy as his State Secretary for European Affairs, Lellouche follows Sarkozy’s line in defending the French Mistral warship sale to Russia, regardless of its corrosive effects on NATO. Visiting the Baltic States –where serious concerns have been voiced over the possible Mistral sale to Russia– Lellouche insinuated that other NATO countries might sell their warships to Russia, if France does not do so. Claiming that the warship sale would merely “turn the page on the Cold War,” Lellouche invited the Baltic States to follow the Franco-German example and seek reconciliation with Russia, overcoming a difficult history (BNS,...

The scene is set for conflict between France and its Nato allies when President Medvedev of Russia arrives in Paris today intent on ordering up to four powerful warships from French shipbuilders. Washington and the former Soviet bloc members of Nato are alarmed by President Sarkozy’s willingness to sell a 600ft Mistral Class amphibious assault ship, and possibly three more, to the Russian Navy. Georgia, which was subjected to a Russian invasion in 2008, is leading the charge to stop Moscow acquiring Mistrals, which sell for about £400 million each. Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, the chief of the Russian Navy, has...

Moscow is still continuing talks with Paris on the purchase of a Mistral-class warship. The French government has approved the sale but Russia has not yet made a final decision. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will visit France on March 1-3 but the deal will not be signed during the visit, a source in the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday. Russia plans to buy one Mistral-class amphibious assault ships, worth 400-500 million euros (around $540-$675 million), and subsequently use their know-how to build three or four vessels of the same class in partnership with the French naval shipbuilder DCNS. "We would...

ON ONE LEVEL, maybe it's not surprising that France would sell an ultramodern helicopter carrier to Russia's navy, even as Russia continues to occupy illegally a sovereign nation that enjoys, at least in theory, good relations with France. After all, times are tough. Three-quarters of a billion dollars is three-quarters of a billion dollars. And France has never hidden its inclination to submerge principle when it comes to maintaining a profitable commercial relationship with the nation that supplies so much of Europe's oil and gas. Still, we do find it surprising -- maybe because we remember French President Nicolas Sarkozy's...

French warship to Russia: Risky precedent or a cruise ship painted gray? The US and other NATO allies worry that the French sale of a $750 million Mistral warship to Russia will set an arms-trading precedent. But analysts say the ship does not yet represent the transfer of cutting-edge technology to Russia By Robert Marquand Staff writer / February 11, 2010 Paris The sale in principle of a French assault ship to the Russian navy brought a stir this week – as the first military deal by a NATO member to Moscow, one that helps Russia’s ailing fleet, and one...

France defended on Monday its decision to sell an advanced warship to Russia, shrugging off concerns that the helicopter carrier could threaten Georgia and arguing that Moscow had to be treated with respect. Russia asked to buy the 21,300-tonne, Mistral class warship to modernise hardware that was exposed as outdated during its five-day war against Georgia in 2008. After months of debate, France finally announced on Monday it would sell the vessel to Russia for an undisclosed sum. President Nicolas Sarkozy defended the decision during a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was paying a flying visit to...

MOSCOW – Moscow plans to buy a French amphibious assault ship, the first such purchase from a NATO country, as the Kremlin seeks to reaffirm Russia's global reach, a Russian news agency reported Saturday. The Defense Ministry also plans to license the production of four more ships of the Mistral class in Russia under the guidance of French engineers, Navy Admiral Oleg Burtsev was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. A Mistral ship is capable of carrying more than a dozen helicopters along with dozens of tanks and other armored vehicles and is fit for missions intended to project Russian...