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| Europe | |
| France agrees to sell Russia advanced warship | |
| 2010-02-08 | |
PARIS (AP) - France has agreed to sell Russia an advanced amphibious warship and is considering a Russian request for three more, French defense officials said Monday. It would be the first major arms deal between Russia and a NATO member. French President Nicolas Sarkozy approved the sale of one Mistral assault ship after months of discussions, but then Russian naval officials submitted a request for three more, said Jacques de Lajugie, head of international development at the French arms agency DGA.
Among outstanding questions in the deal are where the Mistral would be built, de Lajugie said. No details about price were released. Possessing a Mistral, which can carry 16 helicopters, would significantly increase the Russian military's capability to mount quick offensives. France sent a Mistral, which weighs 23,700 tons (21,500 metric tons) and is 980 feet (299 meters) long, to visit St. Petersburg last year in a clear sign of interest in a potential sale. NATO members and Russia have had some small, country-to-country technology deals in the past but this would be the first sale of a major piece of equipment by a NATO nation to Moscow. The prospect of the deal has alarmed some ex-Soviet countries. "I believe that it's not a good idea to sell such ship to a country that has occupied another nation's territory," Temur Yakobashvili, a Georgian cabinet minister for reintegration who is in charge of issues related to separatist regions, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview after the French announcement. The Mistral can anchor in coastal waters and deploy troops on land, a capacity the Russian navy now lacks. Russia's navy chief said last year that a ship like the Mistral would have allowed the Russian navy to mount a much more efficient action in the Black Sea during the Georgia-Russia war. He said the French ship would take just 40 minutes to do the job that the Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels did in 26 hours. Russia's Interfax news agency had quoted naval first deputy chief of staff Vice Adm. Oleg Burtsev as saying the deal "is unlikely to happen in February or March this year, but work on the matter is continuing." President Dmitry Medvedev visits France in March. Russia has been looking at similar ships made in Spain and the Netherlands. | |
| Posted by:Grotch the Scantily Clad7546 |
| #7 Went to ed's link and saw a good picture of the ship in question. Dunno much about such things...assuming it has some kind of defense against anti-ship missiles but it looks like a pretty fat target. Of course, the Ruskies would scream bloody murder if somebody were to sell the Georgians some silkworms. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2010-02-08 18:53 |
| #6 Now if you did ship procurement for the Indian Navy, wouldn't you have to ask yourself why you gave the Russians ship contracts The Indian Navy Captain who held up a Russian Destroyer contract because of a non-working Shtil missile system died in a mysterious automobile accident while taking a morning walk. |
| Posted by: john frum 2010-02-08 16:18 |
| #5 The Mistral Sale and the Russian Information War on Georgia First Caucasian Channel began broadcasting on EutelsatÂ’s new W7 satellite on January 15th, and it only took 2 days for Russia to complain about the channel. The channel was created by the Public Television of Georgia earlier this year with a main objective "to bring truth to peoples in North Caucasus - to Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan as well as to Russian republics in the Caucasus that fight against the Kremlin's armed forces." The channel was taken off the air after being up for less than two weeks. As we watch Russia leverage their unequal national power to influence France, keep an eye on eastern European countries like Poland. This will get bigger than Russia, Georgia, and France before it is all over, and the potential for long term consequences in Eastern Europe is not trivial. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-02-08 14:38 |
| #4 Russia's navy chief said last year that a ship like the Mistral would have allowed the Russian navy to mount a much more efficient action in the Black Sea during the Georgia-Russia war. Not even bothering to hide their intentions for this ship, eh? |
| Posted by: gromky 2010-02-08 14:09 |
| #3 Now if you did ship procurement for the Indian Navy, wouldn't you have to ask yourself why you gave the Russians ship contracts when they in turn give the French a ship contract. Heh. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-02-08 11:09 |
| #2 I seem to remember a couple of times , 'secret' russian ships/subs going under the Bosphorus Bridge with the worlds press on top, happy snapping . They eventually learnt their lesson and moved ship building to another venue, whilst Syrian port of Tartous, aids them too. Obvious cause for concern . |
| Posted by: Oscar 2010-02-08 10:41 |
| #1 The Russians have been lusting after a large assault ship they could use. For example, in the Black Sea ... The problem for the Russians is that the Turks are can block the passage of any aircraft carrier thought Bosporus. So it needs to be built on the Black Sea and that means Ukrainian ship yards. But things are looking up for Putin as the re-absorption of the Ukraine is proceeding w/o western objections. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-02-08 09:35 |