Posted on 10/16/2013 8:21:33 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
SAINT-NAZAIRE (France), October 15 (RIA Novosti) – A French shipyard floated out Tuesday the first of two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships being built for the Russian Navy.
The ship, named Vladivostok, being built at the DCNS shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, is expected to start sea trials in March next year.
“The ship will be handed over unarmed, but equipped with French-made landing equipment,” DCNS program manager Yves Destefanis said at the launch ceremony. It will be fitted with Russian-made weapons systems later, he added.
The vessel will receive its additional Russian systems at the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg, and then be handed over to Russia’s Pacific Fleet in November 2014.
Russia and France signed the 1.2 billion euro ($1.6 billion) contract for two French-built Mistral-class helicopter carriers in June 2011.
A second Mistral-class warship, the Sevastopol, is due to be floated out in October 2014.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, both warships will be based in the Far East ports of Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky when they enter service.
A decision on whether to acquire a build a third and fourth Mistral for the Russian Navy will be taken based on the experience of testing the first one, a Russian defense procurement official said Tuesday.
“The final decision on construction of the third and fourth [Mistrals] has not been taken,” said Andrei Vernigora, director of the defense ministry’s procurement department. ‘We must see how all the systems have adapted. It’s possible the project might require further revision.”
The decision to buy a major foreign-made warship – an unprecedented move for Russia since World War II - was a controversial one. Earlier this year, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees defense procurement, criticized the Mistral purchase, made under the auspices of his predecessor Anatoly Serdyukov, for requiring special lubricants and other liquids not produced in Russia in order to work properly in cold weather.
The Pacific Fleet is currently forming crews for the two helicopter carriers, a Pacific Fleet spokesman told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
Mistral-class vessels are capable of carrying 16 helicopters, four landing craft, 70 armored vehicles, and 450 soldiers.
The Russian Mistral air wings are expected to comprise eight Kamov Ka-52K attack helicopters and eight Ka-29/31 Helix assault transport helicopters.
Ship goes backward faster than forward.
Been reading about these. The Russian Navy will have, in conjunction with the carrier, a credible and fully viable projection-of-force option for the first time.
These aren’t made to be Black Sea, or Baltic rust buckets, they are being built for the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Dry dock is big enough to build a supercarrier....
I doubt anyone is missing the old LPHs today. The LHDs and the new LHA class coming out now are far more capable than both the LHAs or this French class.
I meant far more capable than both the LPHs or this French class.
Didn’t the French build an aircraft carrier that had so many leaks it had to be taken back to dry dock?
They’ve been sinking LHAs too. USS Belleau Wood is on the bottom off Hawaii. That one was a fairly modern one.
looks pretty clean there
Who do they plan to invade next? Ukraine? Greece? Bulgaria?
Looky! It comes with convenient pre-painted targets!!
Weird. I don’t see any national flag being flown on her...especially the white one they use so much.
It’s the LHD Tonnerre during sea trials.
good to know
nice looking ship
and they had a carrier with a long list of problems, even lost a propeller during sea trials
There is a new class of LHAs to replace the Tarawa class, first to be commissioned next year. Belleau Wood did eight years forward deployed to Sasebo. She was rode hard and put away wet. Not that they couldn’t have got more years out her if they had really wanted to.
A bigger shame was sinking all the Spruances. No wait-that wasn’t a shame, it was a crime.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.