Posted on 01/26/2010 10:31:13 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The approval process for boosting Russian naval power is moving forward in the French government. Paris and Moscow are negotiating the sale of one French-built Mistral-class warship to Russia, to be followed by construction of three or four such ships in Russia under French license (Interfax, January 15; RIA Novosti, January 22).
These intentions, amount to a program of naval rearmament for Russia, an openly revisionist power in Europe and on its periphery. Mistral-class ships constitute by definition a power-projection capability, carrying tanks and helicopters for offensive landing operations, with an intimidating potential in Russian hands vis-à-vis its maritime neighbors. NATO member and partner countries in the Baltic and Black Seas are concerned about the possible appearance of Mistral-class ships in the respective Russian fleets, if the French sale goes ahead.
France’s Inter-ministerial Commission for the Study of War Material Exports (French acronym CIEEMG), has now cleared the deal with Russia in a report to the French government. At the next higher level, the General Secretariat for National Defense and Security (SGDSN) is preparing its report on this issue for President Nicolas Sarkozy (Le Monde, January 26).
Representatives of French authorities at various levels are invoking justifications that range from the politically expedient to the crassly commercial; adding an ingredient of historical nostalgia for the Franco-Russian entente on the part of Prime Minister Francois Fillon, who actively promotes the Mistral deal.
(Excerpt) Read more at jamestown.org ...
IMHO, such a deal is very unlikely to happend. Using foreign arms is against their traditional policy. Most likely it is a diplomacy to set unrest in NATO. Also a tool to push on their local MIC to make them work harder to catch Western tech.
Not to mention their coastal assault tactics leaving no room for a ship like that.
It seems that the French are eager to sell them.
They want it for sure.
I think that if the sale goes through, that France is kicked out of NATO.I do not mind them selling carriers to India but not suface ships to Russia.
Yep, may be. On the other hand there is no formal sanctions against sales to Russia since they are not on an official ‘rogue states’ list.
Anyway, I think Russians will add more and more strings to a deal like technology transfer etc until it to turn unacceptable for a French and it won’t happend as Russians planned since the beginning.
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