Expert says Russian Navy can do without French Mistral-class ships
Russian Navy does not have special needs in the French Mistral class helicopter carriers, so in the event of termination of the contract between Russia and France for the delivery of these vessels, the loss for Russia will hardly be noticeable, an expert told PortNews.
"I do not believe that France will make the final decision on the Mistral contracts. If we see such a decision, France will be hit a lot more than Russia,” Professor Valery Polovinkin, an expert in naval construction was quoted as saying.
In June 2011, Russia’s Rosoboronexport and the French DCNS signed an EUR 1.2 billion contract for two Mistral class amphibious assault ships for the Russian Ministry of Defense. Russian has paid about 50% of the contract value. The hull for first Mistral ship is about 80-percent ready and has been undergoing sea trials. The second Mistral ship is 30-percent ready. The first ship was scheduled for delivery this year for further retrofitting with weapon systems at Russian shipyards.
Creation of such fleet for the Russian Navy, Professor Polovinkin says, was not associated with the need to strengthen the Russian Navy.
"It was just a purely political decision and it was settled. Now our fleet should decide how to utilize these Mistral ships under construction”.
The expert explained that this type vessels do not represent a significant combat capabilities. As an amphibious assault ship the Mistral can provide the landing of troops either offshore, or under the support of other warships. Besides, the Mistral's capability for accommodation of troops leaves much to be desired. Russia has designed and built ships with a lot more capabilities. Thus, in the 1990s the Russian Neva naval engineering and marine architecture firm developed a landing dock concept, for landing troops onto LCACs. This class ship was built at a Far East shipyard for a foreign customer.
The expert believes it would be more wise to deploy the Mistral as a command ship (as headquarters of a military operation command) or for expeditionary missions. He noted that Russia does not hatch out any global expansion plans, so it's hard to imagine that the country may need to transport troops over long distances.
"An attempt to introduce the Mistral as a cutting-edge technology was also not too successful. The warship construction is quite simple, similar to civil shipbuilding", added Polovinkin.
The Mistral-class LHD displacement is 21,000 tonnes; LOA - 210 meters; speed - 18 knots; cruising range - 20,000 miles; complement - 160, troops - 450 marines, if needed. The ship can deploy a fleet of 16 helicopters including six on the helipad. According to Russian Navy's plans, each Mistral-class ship will carry eight Ka-52K and eight Ka-29 helicopters on board.
