Russia May Order Amphibious Assault Ship From France

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia May Order Amphibious Assault Ship From France

Russia is planning to purchase a Mistral class large amphibious assault ship from France, a French business daily has said.

According to La Tribune newspaper, the ongoing talks on the issue may result in an agreement as early as September.

The purchase, if successful, would be the first large-scale arms import deal concluded by Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia first expressed interest in bilateral cooperation with France in the sphere of naval equipment and technologies in 2008 when Navy chief Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky visited the Euronaval 2008 arms show in France.

The admiral said then that the Russian Navy was interested "in joint research and also direct purchases of French naval equipment."

According to some sources, the possibility of buying a Mistral class amphibious assault ship was discussed at the naval show in St. Petersburg in June this year.

A Mistral class ship is capable of transporting and deploying 16 helicopters, four landing barges, up to 70 vehicles including 13 main battle tanks, and 450 soldiers. The ship is equipped with a 69-bed hospital.

The Russian Kommersant business daily confirmed on Tuesday the possibility of the deal but said Russian military experts were skeptical about it.

"The Russian Navy lacks the means to finance even the production of corvettes and missile boats, let alone the purchase of large combat ships," the paper quoted Mikhail Barabanov, science editor of the Eksport Vooruzheny (Arms Export) journal, as saying.

"From this standpoint, the order of a large aircraft carrier with a deadweight of over 20,000 tons, which is inferior only to the sole Russian aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, seems rather strange, to say the least," the analyst said.

Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said "although the practice of arms imports will become more common in Russia in the future, the Mistral deal is rather questionable from a military standpoint, as well as Russia's hopes for the transfer of advanced technologies from France."

Russia's current weapons procurement program through 2015 does not envision construction or purchases of large combat ships, so the possible acquisition of a French Mistral class ship is most likely to happen under the new program for the years up to 2020, which is still in the development.

[American Patriot]

In this day and age... an amphibious assault ship is a little... anomalous, wouldn't you say?

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Russia Tries to Control the Reset Button

BRUSSELS — When Russia issues a reminder that it wants to buy an advanced, helicopter-carrying warship from France that’s built for amphibious assaults — hello all you folks along the Black, Baltic and Caspian Seas — then it’s pressing deeper its own reset button on altered relations with the United States and NATO.

The Americans can insist that scrapping plans for a ground-based missile shield on Moscow’s borders is all about Iran and not Russia, and that the Obama administration has traded away nothing to the Russians in the process.

But the Kremlin has made clear its will to extend what it considers a triumph. It’s talking up a plan that Russia sees as containing an alliance-splitting downside for the United States whichever way it turns.

The latest gambit is the warship purchase bid. Trumpeted by Russia three times over the last month — think Moscow wants to grab Europe’s attention? — and confirmed by the French Defense Ministry, the Russian proposal involves buying a 21,300-ton Mistral class helicopter carrier and eventual joint production of four or five more.

A response of silence over the long term from the American side could look like another cave-in to Russia in the minds of the European and Central Asian allies who consider Moscow to have vetoed the ground-based missile defense system.

Even more problematically, should a deal for the helicopter carriers materialize, it would open the door — at least in the view of an American specialist on international arms transactions — for European allies to sell arms to China.

That’s a horrific idea for the American military, yet it remains a suspended project on a low flame inside the European Union. Indeed, China arms sales continue to have the open backing of President Nicolas Sarkozy.

But how does the United States say no nowadays to Russia (and France, if it agrees to build the ship and share the technology) on a major military transfer when the administration does not want to consider Russia a strategic threat?

Would the United States lie down across the tracks to block a Russian arms deal with the French, when the Russians say they could also make offers to the Netherlands or Spain, described as having the necessary technology? Not comfortably or coherently now, and certainly not without reviving the boss-in-big-boots NATO role President Barack Obama isn’t eager to play.

Russia, though, is exulting in a process in which its influence appears to be growing while American policy setbacks wobble from diminished control over events in Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan to taunting Russian arms sales to Venezuela.

In relation to the ship purchase talks — against the background of Russia’s invasion of Georgia last year and its virtual annexation of two Georgian provinces — the Russian Navy’s commander in chief, Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky, rhapsodized over how he could have done the Georgia job in 40 minutes instead of 26 hours if he had had the French warship.

Add Vladimir Putin’s voice to the armed forces chiefs of staff, and politicians who, while applauding an American fade on the missile shield, want to convert it into divisiveness in NATO and a weakened role for the United States as guarantor of Russia’s former Soviet bloc neighbors.

In an account of a conversation published in Germany last week just before the rollback, Mr. Putin said he could not understand why Europe would hesitate to move forward in “cooperation� with Russia on military technology. (A hint: his country’s absence of a rule of law, its denial of Iran’s nuclear weapons intentions, and its past threats to target NATO members engaged in the missile shield.)

But those tactics may seem to Mr. Putin to have worked. And he appears to think he’s on a roll in relation to the United States — able to frustrate Washington, divide it from friends, and to a certain extent maintain Russia as the obligatory point of passage for anything positive to happen on Iran.

The warship contract gambit is an example of his relish in playing this strong hand.

It’s striking, though, how hard people informed about U.S. administration policy here insist it’s meaningless that the Russians, who claimed in paranoid mode the land-based shield was a threat to their security, can now portray its elimination as their victory.

More reassuringly, I continued in Brussels to hear this description of America’s very realistic analysis of Russia:
A country that does not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon; yet one that will play out the issue to the disadvantage of the United States as long as possible, and above all would prefer no solution on Iran (or the anti-American fallout from an attack on Iranian installations) to accepting an arrangement in which Russia would see itself subordinated to a U.S. plan or design.

Difficult.

A rogue thought enters here. Is the United States in such a discomforted position that it could tell Moscow, we might want to think about your idea that Russia take over all of Iran’s nuclear enrichment? On the condition, of course, that Iranians are locked into an inspection regimen that blocks them from ever having enough enriched uranium to make a bomb.

It’s an idea that has run around, respecting the Russians to death and sparing them from ever having to admit they’ve disregarded the truth in insisting Iran’s atomic program has no military goals.

But at a time when Russia’s thumb is aggressively jabbing at its own reset button in relation to America, it’s a notion that makes two depressingly elementary mistakes: crediting the Kremlin with game-breaking influence over Iran (or anything else); and expecting the mullahs, in crisis, to turn back from what has become their existential mission.

[Malsua]

An Amphibean from the frogs. N'est-ce pas?

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009
FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN
WorldNetDaily Exclusive
Russia buying rapid-response carriers
France working on sale despite threat to Western interests

Posted: November 09, 2009
10:24 pm Eastern

WorldNetDaily

Editor's Note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND.


Mistral class French carrier

TBILISI, Georgia – Never at a loss to pass up a commercial deal that could hit Western strategic security interests, the French government is on a fast track to sell Russia one or more helicopter carriers that will provide the amphibious capability it now lacks in the Black Sea, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

Such a capability could allow the Kremlin to move troops and tanks into neighboring Georgia more quickly, for example allowing Russian Spetznaz, or Special Forces, to invade in a matter of hours rather than the days it took in its August 2008 invasion.

In 2008, Russia literally took away from Georgia two contentious breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Ironically, the French government negotiated the end of hostilities that allowed the Russians to militarily occupy the two breakaway provinces which Moscow immediately recognized as independent countries. However, the international community continues to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as part of Georgia.

The French plan is to sell one and possibly up to four Mistral-class helicopter carriers and allow joint production of at least two in Russia. The effort is seen as part of a "strategic partnership" between France and Russia.

For Russia's maritime neighbors along the Black Sea, such as Georgia and Ukraine, the Mistral-class assets are considered an offensive weapon that will dramatically improve Russia's power projection.

"Most of (Russia's) maritime neighbors could by no means match or offset" Moscow's potential force projection capability with the Mistral, said Vladimir Socor of the think-tank Jamestown Foundation.

In pressing its power projection capability in the Black Sea again, Russia asserts that introduction of the Mistral-type helicopter carriers in the Black Sea does not violate the 1936 Montreux Convention, which is interpreted and enforced by Turkey, Russia's other "strategic partner."

Under the Montreux Convention, aircraft carriers are banned from passing through the Turkish Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits. However, Russia claims the Mistral carriers do not meet the criteria of carriers as outlined in the convention.

If the French approve the sale slated for sometime in November, the Russians will most likely put their Ka-27 and Ka-29 helicopters on the Mistral.

The Mistral is the latest class of warship, and even the French Navy has only two of its own. According to defense experts, each Mistral-type carrier holds up to 16 attack helicopters. Because the carrier also can carry up to 900 troops, its inventory can include land helicopters and two hovercraft, allowing for a total of some 30 aircraft on its upper and lower decks.

Alternatively, each carrier reportedly can carry 40 Leclerc tanks or a variety of other troop vehicles. Such a capability would be ideal for rapid deployment of Special Forces in the Black Sea area of operations.

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France's valentine to Russia
Monday, February 15, 2010; A16
Comments

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 role in brokering an end to the August 2008 conflict in which Russia invaded Georgia, its tiny neighbor to the south. Russia promised Mr. Sarkozy a number of things, among them that it would retreat to prewar lines and force levels. Mr. Sarkozy trumpeted these promises as a great success of French diplomacy -- more accurately, of Sarkozy diplomacy. Then Russia promptly broke those promises, and it remains, to this day, in gross violation of the cease-fire agreement as it occupies swaths of Georgian territory.

So, yes, we find it surprising that Mr. Sarkozy's response to this Russian violation is to furnish the Russian navy with a vessel that, if deployed to the Black Sea, would make Russia far more capable of inflicting damage on Georgia the next time around, or on any other neighbor that has a coastline and happens to offend Vladimir Putin's sense of imperial entitlement. In fact, last year the chief of Russia's navy boasted that with a Mistral class destroyer in his fleet, he could have subdued Georgia in 40 minutes instead of the 26 hours it took.

Some French officials have attempted to soften the blow by pointing out that the French navy has used this class of ships -- bristling with formidable weaponry of a technological caliber not available in Russia today -- for humanitarian missions.

The rationalization is so ludicrous that even those proffering it must be embarrassed. We hope so; Mr. Sarkozy himself seems to be immune to embarrassment.

________________________


Franco-Russian Naval Sale is a Challenge to NATO

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 29
February 11, 2010 09:48 PM Age: 3 days
Category: Eurasia Daily Monitor, Vlad’s Corner, Military/Security, Europe, Russia
By: Vladimir Socor

NATO is being tested, with “its future at stake,� not so much in Afghanistan as the line recently went, but rather in Brussels itself and in the Alliance’s most influential capitals. The latest among these tests –one that the Alliance seems only determined to side-step– is over the proposed French naval modernization program for Russia. The program envisages selling one French Mistral-class warship –a state-of-the art, offensive power-projection capability– to Russia and licensing the construction of three or four ships of the same class in Russia, potentially usable in the Baltic and Black Sea.

The Mistral would be the first-ever military and production-licensing sale by a NATO country to Russia; and the deal’s value could set a billion-Euro benchmark or even higher. Moscow has also expressed interest in purchasing the “soldier of the future� integrated kit Felin from France’s Sagem company, as part of modernizing the Russian ground troops’ offensive potential. Again, Russia’s “near abroad� would be the likely arena for using such forces

Certain other West European countries could well use a French “precedent� and start selling their own military production to Russia, with similar disregard for the security of Russia’s neighbors, who are NATO allies and partners. Ideally, from Moscow’s standpoint, European countries would ultimately even compete with each other in arms offers to Russia. Moscow is trying to induce such competition already by hinting at talks with other European countries for Mistral-class analogues, if France bargains too hard on the terms of its sale.

Beyond crass commerce, France is also justifying the Mistral sale to Russia as an anti-crisis stimulus program and employment-generating measure, in addition to its grand political rationalization (EDM, January 7, 26). Thus, France is creating a myriad excuses that other NATO countries can emulate in future arms deals with Russia, if this Mistral sale goes ahead, with corrosive effects on the Alliance’s solidarity and its policies.

If NATO tolerates the Mistral deal, then other allied countries and companies may scramble for bilateral arms deals with Russia, outside any NATO consultation processes, and without objection from an alliance self-consigned to irrelevancy on this account. NATO needs to deal with the Mistral case pro-actively, before any fait accompli and precedent will have been set. If NATO fails on this issue now, then the entire issue of arms sales to Russia will spin out of the Alliance’s ability to control.

Meanwhile, NATO looks reluctant to face the implications of the proposed sale for the Alliance itself. The office of NATO’s Secretary-General seems to give the Mistral deal a green light without any qualms, thus distancing itself from the US position. According to NATO’s chief spokesman James Appathurai, “NATO has no formal role at all in this sale. We are quite confident that the sale would be (when it takes place) perfectly legal, within all the relevant frameworks. But of course some allies have expressed concern about the sale, and we are aware of it� (Radio Free Europe, February 9).

This statement’s first part sounds like a resigned admission of NATO irrelevance to the issues at hand. The second element implicitly disavows US Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ objections to the Mistral sale and the Pentagon spokesman’s statement of receptiveness to regional concerns (La France D’Abord: Paris First to Capitalize on Russian Military Modernization, EDM, February 11).

The Secretary-General’s office backtracked somewhat the following day, with the same spokesman conceding that “the anxieties of some Allies are of course real and are understandable for historical and for geographical reasons� (NATO press release, February 10).

This interpretation, however, avoids the issue of Russian intentions and capabilities in the context of the Mistral deal. It reduces the debate to history and geography, without taking the recent experience with Russian conduct into account. And while mentioning Allies, it overlooks NATO Partners, although Georgia and Ukraine would be directly affected by the possible Mistral deployment in the Black Sea.

Georgia remains a prime target of opportunity for Russia in the Black Sea basin at present. A Mistral-class ship would enable Russia to threaten amphibious and helicopter landings on Georgia’s sea coast, with far greater speed and effectiveness than those of Russia’s existing capabilities. Russia’s naval command publicly alluded to the Mistral’s potential use against Georgia when starting the talks with France for the sale. Paris has ignored Georgian officials’ appeals (EDM, September 18, November 2, December 2, 2009). Meanwhile, Georgia is an all-but disarmed country and (as a thwarted NATO aspirant) is not covered by any external security guarantees.

Russia could also use this type of ship to intimidate Ukraine in the run-up to 2017, when the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s lease in the Crimea runs out. Moscow has indicated in multiple statements that it is prepared to keep the Sevastopol naval base (eastern Crimea) regardless of legal issues. The Mistral’s helicopters and armored vehicles would give Russia the threat option of a quick landing on the Crimean peninsula’s western side.

Meanwhile, immersed in electoral confrontations, and with a moribund presidency, Ukraine failed to join Georgia in raising the Mistral issue at the international level, although Ukraine might equally be affected in due course.

Defense ministers and other officials in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania continue expressing concern about the possible impact on Baltic security, if Russia stations a Mistral-class warship there. According to Latvian Defense Minister Imants Liegis, this would change the security situation in the Baltic Sea, necessitating adjustments in defense planning (BNS, February 9). Lithuanian Defense Minister Rasa Jukneviciene will raise this issue within NATO: “Such a sale is quite astonishing to us, this will become a precedent. It is an important issue for NATO and we will bring it up� (BNS, February 9). According to Estonian Foreign Ministry senior official (and previously ambassador to NATO) Harri Tiido, the Mistral sale to Russia could undermine the Baltic States’ security; and “Baltic nations may in that case have to consider changes to their defense planning (Radio Free Europe, February 9).

Thus far, Baltic and Black Sea countries have not been effective in raising their concerns on this matter within NATO. They have not yet spoken in a concerted fashion; since they are worried about irritating France (even about possible French retaliation on other matters); and they seem at times to hope that the Mistral issue would just go away.

NATO’s internal politics are also partly responsible for inhibiting debate on this issue. Debate was discouraged at the political level, and the United States hesitated for four months before Gates raised the issue, privately and publicly, with Paris on February 8. Apparently, the quest for Russian “help� on Afghanistan and Iran, all its frustrations notwithstanding, took precedence over longer-term considerations.

However, serious examination of the proposed Mistral sale in NATO need not be construed as jeopardizing NATO-Russia relations, or primarily as a Baltic and Black Sea issue. Ultimately, the most relevant issue is that of integrity of NATO’s internal consultation processes and procedures. The Mistral affair should bring the wider issue of arms sales to Russia onto NATO’s agenda. The new NATO Strategic Concept, currently being drafted, provides a compelling first opportunity in this regard.

_______________________


La France D’Abord: Paris First to Capitalize on Russian Military Modernization

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 29
February 11, 2010 09:46 PM Age: 3 days
Category: Eurasia Daily Monitor, Vlad’s Corner, Military/Security, Europe, Russia
By: Vladimir Socor

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has approved the sale of one Mistral-class warship to Russia; and France is now considering Moscow’s request for three more of that class of helicopter-carrier and amphibious-assault ship.

The Russian Navy’s First Deputy Chief of Staff, Vice-Admiral Oleg Burtsev, broke the news on February 5 in Moscow about Sarkozy’s approval of the first warship procurement (Interfax, February 5). The French defense ministry confirmed this on February 8 and announced the Russian navy’s request for three additional ships (Le Monde, February 9). The announcements seemed timed by Moscow and Paris to undercut US Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ intention to raise this issue during his Paris visit.

Jacques de Lajugie, the international director of the French Defense Ministry’s General Directorate for Armaments, told a February 8 news conference that Sarkozy has cleared the first warship’s sale to Russia, while Paris is examining Moscow’s additional request “at the technical level.� Where those three additional ships would be built is an unresolved issue, De Lajugie said (Agence France Presse, February 8).

It is public knowledge that Moscow wants to buy the license for building the three additional ships in Russia; whereas Paris wants the construction of those additional ships to be shared between Russian and French shipyards. France is handling this strategic matter to a large extent as a business and job-creating proposition. Paris, moreover, is worried (according to De Lajugie in the news conference) about Moscow’s contacts with other European naval shipbuilders for acquiring helicopter carriers from them. Given this possibility (or perhaps this excuse) Paris has now rushed through the approval of the first warship sale to Russia.

Meanwhile, French arms exports soared to almost 8 billion Euros during the recession year 2009, up by 21 percent from 2008, according to the same French official (Financial Times Deutschland, February 9).

Defense Secretary Gates did object to the Mistral sale during his February 8 meetings with Sarkozy and with French Defense Minister Herve Morin. According to an Elysee Palace official’s account, Sarkozy replied that the warship sale would not pose security problems to Russia’s neighboring countries. Gates told the concluding news conference that he held “an in-depth exchange of views about this� with Morin,� hinting that the French side was not persuaded by the objections. Elaborating, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell noted that “US friends and allies in Eastern Europe are clearly nervous about it, with good reason.� In the Black Sea, “these new warships would give Russia additional capabilities to threaten Georgia;� and Gates “made our concerns clear� (Agence France Presse, Radio Free Europe, February 8; Le Monde, February 9).

Sarkozy and other French officials claim to be harmonizing their policy on military exports with the broader quest for a security partnership with Russia. They argue that the refusal to sell the warships would contradict Western statements about cooperating with Russia on perceived common challenges (EDM, January 7, 26). Defending the warship sale decision, Sarkozy and Morin now argue that a reversal would amount to ignoring Russia’s post-1991 transformation. And “one cannot expect Russia to behave as a partner if we do not treat it as one,� Sarkozy told Gates with reference to the warship sale (Agence France Presse, February 8).

By this logic, practice should be adjusted to follow theoretical postulates, regardless of any actual experience with Russia’s conduct. Furthermore, by this logic, Russia might have behaved as a partner and respected instead of breaking, the Sarkozy-brokered armistice in Georgia, if only France had started its military sales to Russia sooner.

French leaders practice a double discourse on the warship sale, alternately presenting it as a political imperative and an ordinary commercial transaction (two lines usually included within the same conversation).

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told journalists in the same context (though without mentioning the warship sale directly) that his hope for a Franco-Russian partnership rests on Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s “will for change,� and his “entirely different vision. There is something very promising about Medvedev� (Agence France Presse, February 10). However, the driving force behind the Mistral deal in Russia is Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the military, not Medvedev. And according to French Prime Minister Francois Fillon after a meeting with Putin, “Russia is a democracy today� (Le Monde, January 30) –an echo of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s characterization of then-president Putin as an “impeccable democrat.�

French political rationalization of military sales to Russia need not be taken any more literally than the German theory of a “modernization partnershipâ€� with the Kremlin. Meanwhile, German business and the government are far ahead of France in developing a special partnership with Russia. Paris is now embarking on an effort to build its own special relationship with Moscow. They cannot match Germany’s role vis-Ã*-vis Russia overall, but they hope to make inroads in some specialized sectors where France has competitive advantages.

One sector that remains closed to Germany for political reasons is that of military sales to Russia. The French are stepping into that potentially large niche, as the first Western power to capitalize on Russia’s military modernization program. Once this process starts, a floodgate may open for military sales to Russia from some West European countries, bypassing and undermining NATO, and enhancing Russia’s capacity to pressure NATO allies and partners in Europe’s East.

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Russia to rearm naval infantry by 2015

www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-27 19:57:16

Print

MOSCOW, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Russia will fully equip its entire naval infantry with advanced weaponry by 2015, the Navy said Friday. "The naval infantry will receive T-90 tanks, BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, BRDM-3 armored reconnaissance vehicles, 120-mm 2C31 Vena self-propelled guns, modernized air defense systems and small arms," the RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing the Navy statement. As part of the Navy, the naval infantry, which has a total of about 12,000 personnel, consists of three brigades, two independent regiments and two independent battalions. President Dmitry Medvedev said in September that one of the most important issues for Russia's armed forces was to reform the navy in the coming decade. He said in March that Russia's armed forces would undergo comprehensive rearmament beginning in 2011.

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Paris agrees to sell warships to Russia

By Ben Hall in Paris

Published: March 2 2010 02:00 | Last updated: March 2 2010 02:00



France said yesterday that it had begun exclusive negotiations with Moscow to sell Russia four helicopter-and-troop ships, despite opposition from the US and the Baltic states.

After talks with President Dmitry Medvedev, on a state visit to France, Nicolas Sarkozy, his French counterpart, said one or preferably two 21,300-ton Mistral-class ships would be built at the STX shipyards at Saint-Nazaire, western France. The others would be built in Russia.

Mr Medvedev said France's agreement to sell the vessels was a "symbol of confidence between our two countries".

The agreement to sell up to four vessels was reached as the Russian leader gave his clearest backing yet to tougher sanctions against Iran, provided they were "properly considered, intelligent and not aimed at the civil population".

If completed, the sale would amount to the most important transfer of military equipment to Russia by a Nato member. It is particularly sensitive given the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, which highlighted Moscow's lack of amphibious capability, and tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Robert Gates, US defence secretary, expressed concern about the planned sale - at that stage of only one warship - on a visit to Paris last month. "Our friends and allies in eastern Europe are clearly nervous about it, especially Georgia. And with good reason," said Mr Gates's spokesman.
The French government initially approved a potential sale of a ship on condition that it be entirely built in France, prompting Moscow to talk to rival Dutch and Spanish shipbuilders about similar vessels.

Mr Sarkozy insisted the vessels would be sold to Russia "without military equipment", suggesting there would be no significant transfer of technology.

However, some analysts think it is the ships' sophisticated machinery for aircraft decks, disembarking forces and aviation support that makes them valuable to the Russians.

Mr Sarkozy defended the decision, saying the west could not demand Russian co-operation on global security issues, such as Iran, while treating it as an adversary by refusing to sell it military equipment. "We want to turn the page on the cold war," he said.

A Mistral-class ship can carry up to 16 helicopters, 900 troops and 13 battle tanks. A deal to build one or two would bring much-needed work to the STX yards in Saint-Nazaire, where the order book has run perilously low.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

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Russian, French presidents speak of "common values" at dinner




The Russian and French presidents, Dmitry Medvedev and Nicholas Sarkozy spoke about "strategic partnership" and "common values"

during the state dinner. Sarkozy and his wife, the former supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy welcomed Medvedev and his wife Svetlana in the Elysee Palace on the last formal event of Dmitry Medvedev's state visit to France which began on Monday.

"I raise my glass to our strategic privileged partnership, to the rise of the great Russian people, to friendship between Russia and France... You know that France is a big friend of Russia," Sarkozy said.

"Today we have special, privileged and close relations with France.

Indeed, we have a common approach to current events... We share common values, at least as I see it, and we are open to friendship and cooperation," Medvedev said in his turn.

The visit marks the official start of the Year of Russia in France and France in Russia. Russia's first couple will return home on Wednesday.
PARIS, March 3 (RIA Novosti)

[Malsua]

Does it come with screws that fall off?

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NATO Plays Down East’s Worry After French Arms Sale to Russia

March 03, 2010, 10:52 AM EST

By James G. Neuger



March 3 (Bloomberg) -- NATO played down security concerns in eastern Europe provoked by France’s decision to sell four warships to Russia, which fought a war against would-be alliance member Georgia less than two years ago.

In announcing the sale of the Mistral-class amphibious assault ships this week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the West needs to trust Russia and shed Cold War-era stereotypes.

The sale was denounced by eastern European governments, especially the Baltic Sea states that were once part of the Soviet Union, as an unwarranted gesture to Russia that threatens European security.

“I understand very well the concerns raised by a number of allies and I think it’s understandable taking into consideration history as well as recent events, but I take it for granted that Russia will not use or misuse such military equipment against any neighbor,� North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a Brussels press conference today.

The sale of the 200-meter (656-foot) ships, capable of transporting as many as 700 combat troops, 16 helicopters and 60 armored vehicles, would mark Russia’s first big-ticket weapons purchase from a NATO country since the Cold War.



Sarkozy, who brokered the cease-fire that ended Russia’s five-day war against Georgia in 2008, said March 1 after endorsing the sale that Russia is a “strategic partner� and “friend of France.�

Rasmussen said there was no need for France to clear the sale with allied headquarters in advance and promised that “NATO has all necessary plans in place to protect and defend all allies.�

--Editors: Julian Nundy, Alan Crawford

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NATO confident Russia will not use French warships on neighbors

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:18:12 GMT By : dpa



Brussels - NATO's top official said Wednesday he is sure Russia will not use state-of-the-art warships it is planning to buy from France against its neighbours, as concerns over the deal spread across Eastern Europe. Former-Soviet states such as the Baltics and Georgia have expressed alarm over the sale of the Mistral warships, which are capable of transporting attack helicopters, warning that their deployment in either the Baltic or Black seas could stoke tensions.

Russia invaded Georgia in a conflict over two breakaway Georgian territories in 2008, making the question of a possible Black Sea deployment especially sensitive. "I take it for granted that Russia will not use or misuse such military equipment against any neighbour," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told journalists in Brussels.

At the same time, "I understand very well the concerns raised by a number of allies, and I think it is understandable, taking into consideration history as well as recent events," he said. Rasmussen stressed that the deal to buy up to four ships was a bilateral affair in which NATO was not involved.

Separately, he said that he had "no detailed information" on reports that Russia was planning to site medium-range Iskander rockets at a base near the Estonian border. But he said that he would "very much like" to reopen talks aimed at convincing Russia to revive its implementation of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, which Moscow dropped in protest at US plans to site anti-missile systems in Europe.

The treaty limited the deployment of heavy military equipment in Europe. NATO foreign ministers are set to meet in Tallinn, the Estonian capital, on April 22-23, with the CFE question on the agenda.

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03/03/2010
Sarcozy supports Medvedev’s modernization programme

Evgeniya Chaykovskaya Nicolas Sarcozy vowed support for Medvedev's course for modernization and talked about selling Russia four Mistral ships. After Medvedev's official visit the French president said that Russia might buy not one, but four Mistral helicopter-carrying ships. At the press conference after the meeting Sarcozy said that "exclusive talks" on the purchase were taking place and that two of the ships were to be built in the French Saint-Nazaire and two in Russia under license. The deal could be worth as much as $3 billion. It is seen as a turnaround in the French-Russian relations. Financial Times writes that after Sarcozy was elected in 2007 he distances himself from Russia, criticizing its poor human rights record and actions in Chechnya, yet in 2008 he negotiated ceasefire in the conflict with Georgia. The Russian President's visit "marked a shift from hostility to warm embrace." During the dinner that closed Medvedev's visit to Paris Nicolas Sarcozy expressed his support for Medvedev's modernization initiative. "Mr President, I am aware of your personal contribution to the reinforcement of the relationship between France and Russia. I am also aware of your desire to modernize Russian society and we would like to help you with it up to the completion of the modernization and the implementation of your plans aimed against corruption and towards the development of legal state," Sarcozy said at the beginning of the dinner. During the business forum that was part of the visit Medvedev invited the French businessmen to the economic forum in St Petersburg in June. President Sarkozy said that he would be happy to visit the forum with a delegation of French companies that trust Russia and want to invest in it. He underlined that at the moment French investments in Russia exceeded those of their American friends. The two presidents stressed that the relationship between the two countries was deeply historic and that Russian and French cultures had a lot in common.

[vector7]

March 03, 2010
Sarkozy falls for Russia



What a difference three years make. Campaigning for election in early 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy hammered Russia over human rights and promised to break with the cosy, uncritical relations that President Chirac pursued with Moscow. This week, President Sarkozy has thrown France into Russian arms, receiving President Medvedev on a state visit with the ardour of an eager suitor.

Sarkozy's calculations are simple, they make sense for France and they are being welcomed by both left and right. Sarkozy's overtures to Barack Obama have failed. The American leader looks down on him -- though he has finally invited him for his first White House visit later this month.

Sarkozy received nothing from the Americans for resuming full NATO membership. Germany has so far beaten France hands down in reaping benefit from trade with Russia. So France is reverting to the old Russia card that was first played by President Charles de Gaulle in the 1960s.

The U-turn has been displayed with the festivities in Paris since Dmitri and Svetlana Medvedev alighted from a flock of helicopters onto the green Esplanade des Invalides on Monday. Giant Russian flags hang with the French tricolour along the Invalides and the Champs Elysées.

Centuries of Franco-Russian "friendship" are being marked with exhibitions at the Louvre and elsewhere. Last night, a platoon of French celebrities were brought in to dazzle Medvedev and his big entourage at a banquet at the Elysée Palace

Carried away with the new Franco-Russian honeymoon, Medvedev was lyrical on his visit to Mayor Bertrand Delanoe at the city hall. "Our interest in each other has always been mutual," he gushed."To use a word full of emotion, I would even describe this interest as 'rapturous'."

On the business end, the state visit has brought a big natural gas deal between Gazprom and GDF Suez. France hopes to catch up with Germany in supplying the technology to modernise Russia. The main item was confirmation from the two Presidents that France is on the verge of selling four Mistral-class amphibious assault ships to Moscow (earlier posts). Like his predecessors in Soviet days, Sarkozy has decided that France's diplomatic and commercial interests lie in cultivating Moscow. American displeasure is a useful byproduct.

Sarkozy and his people argue that they are backing a new reform-minded Russia -- like President Obama pressing the 'reset button' with Moscow. President Medvedev is outward-looking and modern compared with Vladimir Putin, say the palace policy people.

Sarkozy explained:

"We have to close ranks, the Russians and the French, because we have the same objectives.... How are we to say to Russian leaders -- 'We need you for peace, like on Iran,' but then say: 'We don't trust you'?. That would be totally inconsistent."

Sarkozy, who had no experience in dealing with Russia before his election, is convinced that he can bring the Kremlin around to stiff sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme. More experienced Russia hands doubt this. There is also a personal side to Sarkozy's boosting of Medvedev.

The French president was humiliated by Vladimir Putin over Iran when he visited him in October 2007, as veterans of this blog will recal Sarkozy is much more comfortable with Medvedev who, incidentally, shares his small stature. Paris would be happy if his powerful mentor does not return to the presidency in 2014.

In his banquet speech, Sarkozy reminded Medvedev of western worries about Russia. "Your attachment to the rule of law, to the respect for legality, for judicial security, for the defence of human rights greatly helps the rapprochement between our nations," he said.

There are a few dissenters. The Greens, who are part of the left-wing coalition behind Mayor Delanoe, boycotted Medvedev's visit to the City Hall. But Sarkozy's volte-face has been largely welcomed by the establishment. Leftwing commentators, such as my colleague Bernard Guetta of France Inter -- no supporter of Sarkozy -- are right behind him.

A French ambassador, a Russia expert whom I have known for two decades, gave a spirited defence of the Mistral sale at dinner the other night. "It's an empty hull, just the same as a civilian ferry," he insisted.

Anyway, times have changed and the Cold War is long over, he said.

Posted by Charles Bremner on March 03, 2010 at 11:25 AM

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia Will Only Buy Fully-Equipped Mistral From France

March 26, 2010

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 means and armaments," Army General Nikolai Makarov told the Rossiiskaya Gazeta Nedelya government weekly.

"The only exception is helicopters. They will be domestically made. Everything else is to be made to their standards completely," he said.

But the French Defense Ministry on Thursday reiterated that if the deal is struck, Mistral-class vessels would be delivered without armaments.

"The president said publicly in front of his Russian counterpart what the scope for negotiations was," spokesman Laurent Teisseire was quoted by AFP as saying.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said March 1 at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev that Mistral is "a helicopter carrier we will create for Russia without military equipment."
A Mistral-class ship is capable of transporting and deploying 16 helicopters, four landing barges, up to 70 armored vehicles including 13 battle tanks, and 450 personnel.

Many Russian military and industry experts have questioned the financial and military sense of the purchase, and some believe that Russia simply wants to gain access to advanced naval technology that could be used in the future in potential conflicts with NATO and its allies.

[Ryan Ruck]

French Warships For Russia May Be Armed With Ka-52 Helicopters

5/12/2010

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 best helicopter for the aircraft carriers [helicopter carriers]," Andrei Shibitov said while answering a question on which helicopter may be used on the Mistral. Two other types of helicopters were tested on the Mistral when the ship made a short port call in Russia in 2009, he added.

The Ka-52 is armed with a 30-mm cannon, Vikhr (Whirlwind) laser guided missiles, rockets, including S-24s, as well as bombs.

The Ka-52 is a modification of the basic Ka-50 Hokum model. The development of the Ka-52 started in 1994 in Russia, but its serial production began only in 2008.

The helicopter is also equipped with two radars, one for ground and one for aerial targets and a Samshite nighttime-daytime thermal sighting system.

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia Sees Alternatives To French Navy Ship Offer

Russian defense minister: France, Spain and Netherlands in competition for Russian navy order

May 24, 2010

Along with France's offer to sell an advanced naval ship, Moscow is considering similar proposals from Spain and the Netherlands, Russia's defense minister said Monday.

Anatoly Serdyukov said Russia wants to buy one such ship and jointly build three others. Such an arms sale would be the biggest ever by a NATO country to Russia.

Serdyukov was quoted by the Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies as saying that Russia is conducting talks on signing the contract with France, Spain and Netherlands. "I think there will be a positive decision, unless some changes occur, including the financial issues," he said.

Earlier this year, France said it agreed to sell Russia a single Mistral-class assault ship and was considering a request for three more vessels that may be built under license in Russian shipyards.

Serdyukov's comments appeared to indicate that Moscow wants to make the best possible deal by sending a warning to Paris that it also was talking to other potential suppliers.

Military observers said that Russia particularly appreciated the Mistral's advanced electronics which France may be reluctant to share with a non-NATO member.

The Mistral, which could carry up to 16 helicopters and dozens of armored vehicles, would allow Russia to land hundreds of troops quickly on foreign soil. The possible deal has alarmed Georgia, which fought the August 2008 war with Russia, as well as the ex-Soviet Baltic nations in NATO.

Serdyukov said the navy's priority will be to assign such ships to the Northern Fleet in the Arctic and the Pacific Fleet. He didn't mention two other Russian fleets -- the Black Sea and the Baltic ones.

[Ryan Ruck]

Russian Navy On Course To Buy Mistral Ships

May 24, 2010

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 buy the Mistral vessels have been ongoing for more than a year – hampered by political controversy and financial disagreements. If agreed to, the deal would see Russia buying its first ever warship from a NATO country – an idea that has many opponents, both at home and abroad.

A Mistral vessel is estimated to cost 600 million euros – an exorbitant figure that some experts believe would have been better spent on supporting Russia's struggling ship-building industry.

The negotiations received an important boost earlier this year when Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev personally discussed it with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, calling the planned deal "a symbol of trust."

However, since then the French side has sought to amend the details of the deal, prompting Russia to widen the circle of potential sellers.

Serdyukov said Russia would only agree to purchase the ships if no amendments were made to the agreements, particularly those concerning financing. According to media reports, France would like to sell Russia at least one of the vessels without all necessary electronic equipment.

If purchased, the ships will be deployed by the Northern and Pacific fleets.

[Ryan Ruck]

Putin Says Russia Will Buy Mistral Only With Technology Transfer

6/9/2010

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 in an interview with Agence France Presse and France 2 TV.

The prime minister, who will visit France on Thursday and Friday, also said that "cooperation in a field as sensitive as military-industrial manufacturing, of course, leads to higher trust between countries."

Putin reiterated that Georgia and other Russian neighbors should not fear the Mistral purchase because Moscow has no plans to attack other countries and hopes there will never again be a conflict similar to five-day war between Russia and Georgia in 2008.

"You know, it is not the case when it is necessary to deploy weaponry as the Mistral ship. I hope that, God willing, we will never see a military conflict between Russia and Georgia. Never," he said, before pointing out that Russia was able "to carry out military strikes from the Russian territory at any target in Georgia."

"We do not need a Mistral ship for that," he said.

A Mistral-class ship is capable of transporting and deploying 16 helicopters, four landing barges, up to 70 armored vehicles including 13 battle tanks, and 450 personnel.

The Russian military plans to use the Mistral ships in its Northern and Pacific Fleets.

Chief of Russian Armed Forces General Staff Gen. Nikolai Makarov said on Tuesday that Russia needs Mistral class amphibious assault ships primarily to boost the combat capabilities of its Navy in the Far East and ensure protection of the disputed Kuril Islands.

[vector7]

There's more...

Russia To Purchase 'Soldier of Future' Equipment from France

21.06.2010Source: Pravda.RuURL: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/econ...er_of_future-0

Russia has received the technology for the production of night vision devices for armored vehicles from France. The contract was signed by Rosoboronexport and French company Thales. The night vision devices for T-90 tanks will be manufactured under license at an optical-mechanical plant in Vologda. The country is prepared to purchase weapons overseas only coupled with the technology.

"Under the contract, Russia has the right to assemble thermal imaging systems for armored vehicles under license in Vologda, with the subsequent maintenance," said Igor Sevastyanov, head of the government company.

The sum of the contract signed in Paris earlier is not specified, RIA Novosti
The center for manufacturing of the night vision equipment for tanks T-90 has been already created at the Vologda Optical and Mechanical Plant. The center is to be opened in July of 2010.

Russia Today: Russia on course to buy Mistral ships

The second contract signed with French partners is for the supply of communication units for Russian armed vehicles. "The first contract provides for the transfer of technology to Russia that will now be able to produce thermal imagers under license at Vologda Optical and Mechanical Plant. The second contract allows Russia to temporarily import communication units for integration into the Russian armored vehicles for testing purposes. The third contract is a procurement contract," quotes the agency.

Thales is a longtime partner of Rosoboronexport that has been supplying Russia with avionics for the equipment made in Russia. The company exports equipment and onboard systems for MiG-21, MiG-29, Su-30 MKI, Su-30 MKM, T-90 tanks, combat vehicles BMP-3 and many other systems.

The Russian Defense Ministry has expressed interest in buying four helicopter carriers "Mistral" from France. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin explained before his French visit that Russia was interested in buying French helicopter carrier "Mistral" only in conjunction with the technology and orders for Russian enterprises. This issue must be thoroughly examined at the expert level, RIA Novosti reports.

As the prime minister mentioned, "For Russia, this transaction may be of interest only if it is implemented with a parallel transfer of technology. This is done to ensure that our shipbuilding - both military and civilian - would receive new technological impetus for the development," Putin said.

Russia wants to buy one prebuilt ship, and build three more under French license at Russian shipyards. The French want to sell two prebuilt helicopter carriers.

A few days ago the information was released that the Russian Ministry of Defense may purchase a limited party of Future Force Warrior FELIN for GRU Special Forces from the French Safran Corporation. Negotiations are underway.

According to Vladimir Popovkin, Deputy Defense Minister and Chief of armed forces, Russian specialists will examine characteristics of the equipment and make a decision. He stressed that the Ministry of Defense values the technology that should be in Russia, and not the amount of purchased foreign equipment, RIA Novosti reports.

"The Ministry of Defense purchases limited amounts of arms in order to explore new technologies. This is important so that we could always manufacture the latest equipment regardless of the political conditions," Popovkin said.

Top of Form

The FELIN complex (Fantassin a Equipement et Liaisons Integres - "Infantryman’s Integrated Equipment and Communications Units”) includes navigation tools, secure radio communications equipment, special anti-shock computer, a receiver of GPS signals capable of displaying a wide range of digital maps, helmet sight of individual small arms, targeting devices integrated into a single electronic system, and safety equipment. Electronics run on batteries which last up to 24 hours. The French armored fighting vehicles are equipped with charging devices.

The French ordered nearly 5 thousand sets for their units worth $225 million in total. The price of one FELIN set is approximately $45 thousand.

Purchasing of weapons is not limited to the procurement of Navy equipment, unmanned vehicles and technologies for the Air Force. Armored vehicles may be purchased abroad as well. This includes purchasing of armored cars made by the Italian company IVECO, which could launch licensed production in Russia. Armored IVECO have been already tested by Airborne Landing Forces. The vehicle was rather comfortable, but its terrain crossing capacity was objectively lower than that of its Russian counterparts, in particular, "Tiger".

Nevertheless, a contract may be signed with the Italian company IVECO for the assembly of up to 3,000 LMV armored vehicles worth at least 1.5 billion Euros at the Russian Kamaz plant. Some experts believe that Russia's "Tiger" is superior to the Italian vehicle in all respects. At the moment, it is three times cheaper. However, the engines for the military jeeps were purchased from the American company Cummins. It is expected that Russian engines of YMZ-530 type will be installed on the “Tiger” family of vehicles.

The family of diesel engines YMZ-530 is completely new to Russia. Currently, GAZ Group is building a new plant for the production of these engines in Yaroslavl. However, according to the Group representatives, government money is not yet available through the state-controlled banks.

This engineering project is essential, both for the military and civilian sectors. Now the Russian army equipment is outfitted with nearly thirty engines of different models, types and brands, which leads to a significant rise in price of the equipment and impedes normal maintenance. The YMZ-534 engine meets “Euro-4” standards, which is important for the civilian automotive industry.

In late May Konstantin Biryulin, deputy director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) of Russia said that Kazakhstan started negotiations with Russia regarding the supply of Russian armored vehicles "Tiger."

Some media outlets also reported that the Russian army may be buying "Bereta" pistols. The Defense Ministry said that Russia did not need small arms produced by foreign manufactures.

Sergey Nikolayev
Pravda.Ru reports.

[Ryan Ruck]

On the up side, since we all know how cheap Russian night vision is, maybe cheap thermal viewers are on the horizon now! lol!