DTN News Archive - Russia Agrees To Buy Two Mistral-Class Helicopter Carriers
(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - December 27, 2010: President Dmitry Medvedev informed French President Nicolas Sarkozy by telephone Friday that Russia has decided to go ahead with a purchase of two French Mistral-class helicopter carriers, its biggest foreign arms purchase since the end of the Cold War.
The French reaction to the announcement was jubilant, with a banner on the Elysee's web site reading “France's naval industry has won!” — but the deal, worth up to $1.3 billion, has been greeted with apprehension by some smaller ex-Soviet states.
Lithuanian Defense Minister Rasa Jukneviciene on Monday criticized the decision to sell “extremely complex offensive weaponry to a third party, a country where the level of democracy is not one we can feel safe about,” she said, Reuters reported. “It's a big mistake.”
The Mistral-type amphibious assault ships can carry up to 16 helicopters, of which six can be on deck at any one time, and 450 troops for up to six months. For shorter periods that number rises to 700. The vessels also carry landing barges and hovercraft, allowing vehicles, tanks and soldiers to be quickly transferred ashore.
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