Mistral News thread

Mistral-class helicopter carrier. Infographics

Mistral-class Sevastopol ship to undergo first sea trials March 16-20

PARIS, March 9. /TASS/. The amphibious assault helicopter carrier of the Mistral class, the Sevastopol, being built at France’s St. Nazaire shipyards for Russia, will undergo the first sea trials on March 16-20, the contractor company DCNS told TASS, adding that the purpose of the checks will be test navigation systems.

"There will be no Russian sailors on board during the sea trials," the company’s official said. He recalled that the Russian sailors who had taken a six-month course of instruction at the first ship of the Mistral class - the Vladivostok - have left St. Nazaire last December.

The DCNS is going ahead with the project in accordance with the original schedule, the company said. In February, the Sevastopol’s on-board equipment started transmitting the signal for the international Automatic Identification System, AIS.

The €1.12-billion contract for building two Mistral class ships for the Russian Navy was concluded in June 2011. The first ship, the Vladivostok, launched in October 2013, was to be delivered to Russia back in November 2014. At the last moment Paris suspended the handover indefinitely saying the crisis in Ukraine was the reason. The Vladivostok has since remained moored in St. Nazaire. The Sevastopol is to be finalized by the end of this year.

Russia has also purchased French technology for the combat information control and communications systems.

Mistral landing helicopter carriers will perform four tasks at a same time: receive helicopters, land troops, and act as a command post and a floating hospital. Each ship will carry a group of 16 helicopters. Six of them can be deployed on the flight-deck at the same time. The cargo deck can accommodate more than 40 tanks or 70 motor vehicles.

Russia is buying the French helicopter carrier Mistral with French equipment, including combat navigation devices, but will arm it with its own weaponry. The Mistral ships will carry upgraded Russian Ka-32 Alligator attack helicopters.

Looks like NATO just threw a curveball. Like out of the clear blue sky, a major order just came from the U.S. from the same shipyards that made the Mistral ships, so Mistral ships will not be delivered until years from now:

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwarfiles.ru%2Fshow-83053-stroyaschaya-mistrali-verf-poluchila-krupnyy-zakaz-ot-ssha.html&edit-text=&act=url

...Time get your money back Russia and move on.

http://sputniknews.com/military/20150317/1019595139.html

The completed French Mistral helicopter carrier Vladivostok could be relocated from Saint-Nazaire to Brest due to high maintenance costs, amid the halted sales deal with Russia, local media reported.

http://news.rin.ru/eng/news///98614/

Rosoboronexport made a promise to take action on the "Mistral" until May

Moscow should definitely sue them for breach of contract and get their compensation back. Who knows how long they'll actually take to hand them over, and by then electronics and systems could well be tinkered and downgraded to crap.

higurashihougi wrote:

Rosoboronexport made a promise to take action on the "Mistral" until May

They keep pushing back the deadline

It's time to take the Frenchies to town!

The thing i'd like to see is.. French pay the penalty and still give the ship to Russia.

I haven't read the contract but there will likely be penalties for late delivery and steeper penalties for no delivery.

they clearly owe a late delivery penalty already... the question is will they have to pay a penalty for not delivering... I hope not because I think these ships will be useful.

GarryB wrote:I haven't read the contract but there will likely be penalties for late delivery and steeper penalties for no delivery.

they clearly owe a late delivery penalty already... the question is will they have to pay a penalty for not delivering... I hope not because I think these ships will be useful.

I think they would be useful but there is no urgency from them.

Russian shipyards and specialists have already learnt a thing or two from the Mistral's construction.

If France refunds the money Russia paid it and pays its penalties as well as for the Mistral parts the Russian shipyards built; then it turns out that that knowledge and experience has been attained for free, with a little paid work for Russian shipbuilders and a little extra for the budget.

I can think of no better outcome really. The work could then proceed on an entirely domestically-designed and built vessel of this class.

I don't think that is the best for Russia outcome... financially... yes, but if they make their own design without risking copyright infringement then it could be ten years before those Ka-52Ks go to sea... it would be awesome for hunting pirates....

If I'm correct, than someone from MoD at presetation of Ka-52K said, that they will build helicopter carriers similar to Mistrals in Russia. I think new Zvezda shipyard in Vladivostok will be big enough to build new aircraft carriers and Mistral type ships.

France, Russia on the Way to Mistral Deal Solution - Hollande

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150419/1021092425.html#ixzz3XlG9iHpW

Hope the meeting concludes with real meaningful results. The faster we know the fate of the contract the quicker decisions can be made to properly address it. Moscow already has the justifiable grounds to sue them for breach of contract for failure to fulfil their obligations. Procrastination will only make it worse on them.

Even if the deal won't go down the toilet, french fags can f**k themselves. That's just some two faced behaviour in here, too much anal results in confusion I guess, they no longer know if they are US bitch or whose

It should go straight. Make an public announcement, something in like "Ok now you can go f**k yourselve bummer, we are free country now" - and then make an agreement with Russia.

I can see Russia buying French in the future... they have some good stuff that will benefit Russia, but at the end of the day I think the contracts will be written with this situation in mind and either full domestic production, or really serious penalties will be involved so even the most US looking French government wont back down and bend to Washington...

Russian, French Leaders May Discuss Mistral Deal in Armenia on Friday

The topic of the Mistral may be brought up during the meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande in Yerevan, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande may discuss the topic of the Mistral-class helicopter carrier contract during a meeting in the Armenian capital of Yerevan at the end of the week, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Wednesday.

“The topic of the Mistral may be brought up during the meeting in Yerevan, but there are a lot of issues up for discussion, first and foremost on Ukraine. But I will note that the topic of the Mistral is heavily discussed between the governments of both countries,” Ushakov told journalists.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Hollande could discuss the delivery of the Mistral-class helicopter carriers in Yerevan if the latter raises the issue.

On Thursday, the Russian President said France’s refusal to fulfill its contract to supply Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Russia has no impact on the country's defense capabilities.

According to the terms of Russia's $1.5-billion Mistral delivery contract with France, signed in 2011, Paris was due to deliver the first of the two Mistral-class ships, the Vladivostok, to the Russian Navy by November 14, 2014.

However, French President put the transfer on hold, citing Russia's alleged role in the ongoing Ukrainian internal crisis.

Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement in Ukraine's internal conflict, warning that it could file a lawsuit against Paris if contractual obligations for the Mistral deal remain unfulfilled.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/politics/20150422/1021229801.html#ixzz3Y36foDho

GarryB wrote:I can see Russia buying French in the future... they have some good stuff that will benefit Russia, but at the end of the day I think the contracts will be written with this situation in mind and either full domestic production, or really serious penalties will be involved so even the most US looking French government wont back down and bend to Washington...

I doubt Russia will buy anything from western countries for a long time.

The Mistral deal is very public and controversial, but lots of little deals continue unnoticed... there are quite a few unmanned underwater vehicles from the west that the Russian Navy bought and continue to use, though I suspect domestic versions wont be far away and of course as we can see with UAVs a few foreign designs were imported but most of the systems entering front line service seem to be domestic models.

Same with small arms... a few foreign sniper rifles were purchased but the systems likely to enter service will be Russian weapons...

flamming_python wrote:

GarryB wrote:I haven't read the contract but there will likely be penalties for late delivery and steeper penalties for no delivery.

they clearly owe a late delivery penalty already... the question is will they have to pay a penalty for not delivering... I hope not because I think these ships will be useful.

I think they would be useful but there is no urgency from them.

Russian shipyards and specialists have already learnt a thing or two from the Mistral's construction.

If France refunds the money Russia paid it and pays its penalties as well as for the Mistral parts the Russian shipyards built; then it turns out that that knowledge and experience has been attained for free, with a little paid work for Russian shipbuilders and a little extra for the budget.

I can think of no better outcome really. The work could then proceed on an entirely domestically-designed and built vessel of this class.

The best deal would be to have the ships, or be paid back in dollars or rubles...

KoTeMoRe wrote:

flamming_python wrote:

GarryB wrote:I haven't read the contract but there will likely be penalties for late delivery and steeper penalties for no delivery.

they clearly owe a late delivery penalty already... the question is will they have to pay a penalty for not delivering... I hope not because I think these ships will be useful.

I think they would be useful but there is no urgency from them.

Russian shipyards and specialists have already learnt a thing or two from the Mistral's construction.

If France refunds the money Russia paid it and pays its penalties as well as for the Mistral parts the Russian shipyards built; then it turns out that that knowledge and experience has been attained for free, with a little paid work for Russian shipbuilders and a little extra for the budget.

I can think of no better outcome really. The work could then proceed on an entirely domestically-designed and built vessel of this class.

The best deal would be to have the ships, or be paid back in dollars or rubles...

With a fancy fee of course, because you can't just pay in advance and then wait for ever to get the ship or money back especially since this is illegal act based on US political pressure.

So, word is the Mistral contract will be canceled, and the French will pay back the money (without penalties).
Good. The damage to the French sovereignty goes full circle though. After the fiasco with Evo Morales' plane - this is just icing on the cake.

EU Observer wrote:France and Russia agree 'terms' on warship contract
France and Russia have all-but reached agreement to terminate a contract for two warships.

French president Francois Hollande and Russian leader Vladimir Putin discussed the delivery, or not, of the “Mistral” vessels at a meeting in the margins of genocide solemnities in Yerevan on Friday (24 April).
Coming out of the meeting, Hollande told press that if the ships aren’t delivered, then he has reached agreement on the “terms” of a “repayment” to Moscow.

He also urged Russia to implement the “Minsk 2” peace accord, amid ongoing EU and US concern that Russia and its proxies are preparing a fresh offensive in south-east Ukraine.

His spokeswoman added, in comments to EUobserver, that the Yerevan meeting “changed nothing” vis-a-vis Hollande’s statement, earlier this week, that the delivery is impossible so long as the Ukraine conflict continues.

Putin mentioned his “regret” that Franco-Russian relations are “not in the best condition”, in a situation which has caused “reduced turnover” in bilateral trade.

“I think we should look for ways to restore our relationship.”

Continued >

must've paid penalties

max steel wrote:must've paid penalties

No, no - it's actually better this way.
Russia claims the high moral ground, and treats France as a minor league player, and a mere vassal to the Americans.
It's like Russia saying: No need for penalties, the embarrassing position you've put yourselves into is penalty in itself.
Quite a humiliation for the French. De Gaulle must be doing a double 360 in his grave.

What's the point of gaining high moral ground when the opponent is trying to damage (destroy) you . Maybe you're right .