In June 2011, during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, among other interesting events, something completely unique happened. For the first time since World War II, Russian representatives signed a large-scale agreement with a foreign company for the supply of military equipment. It became known that huge ships, Mistral helicopter carriers, were being purchased for the needs of the navy. This event became a real sensation; until now, domestic shipbuilding enterprises somehow managed to manage orders themselves, without foreign help, and learned to do things that from time to time made our Western “friends” start to have hair on their heads, for example, missile submarines. Where did the desire to get ships of this type come from?

Why was Mistral created?

The Mistral is a Mediterranean wind, quite cold, from time to time blowing across the southern coast of France, pampered and pampered by a mild climate. It cannot be compared with the piercing wet frosty currents of arctic air, to which Murmansk has long been accustomed, but to the delicate Gallic noses it seems the height of discomfort. France and the Russian Federation differ just as much as the climate. A Mistral-class helicopter carrier is essentially a large ship, practically devoid of an independent anti-submarine, anti-ship and anti-air defense system, that is, capable of operating only as part of a squadron, surrounded by an escort.

On the other hand, it reflects the shipbuilding concept that has been fashionable in recent decades, according to which troops land on foreign shores as if “remotely.” This happens as follows: a large ship approaches a hostile state at a relatively safe distance of fifteen to twenty miles, then begins to load equipment onto special barge-boats, and meanwhile attack and transport helicopters with specially trained soldiers fly forward, seize a bridgehead and ensure the absence of resistance during the entire process. The landing craft is not even visible from the shore, and small transports arrive unexpectedly, unless, of course, the party being invaded has the means for over-the-horizon detection. This is approximately the scenario for which the Mistral type is intended. This ship has too much draft; it cannot get close to the shore. He is also unable to provide support to the advancing troops; for this he does not have a sufficient number of guns or missiles.

Ship characteristics

The large flight deck immediately catches the eye of anyone who looks at the Mistral. The characteristics of this large ship are impressive. It has a length of 200 meters, a displacement of 22 thousand tons, however, it is capable of moving through the sea at a speed of only 18 knots. The crew, including pilots, is approximately 170 crew members. In addition to everything that distinguishes an aircraft-carrying vessel, that is, the deck and below-deck hangars, it also has other features. For example, a compartment for transporting forty modern tanks. The Mistral is an aircraft carrier, but first and foremost it is a landing ship.

But it’s not enough to bring tanks to the coast of an enemy country; they still need to be delivered to land and unloaded ashore. There is a whole technology for this. It’s ours who simply rest their bows on the beach, open the ramps, and “forward for our homeland!” The armies of NATO countries act differently, much more cunningly. But more on that later.

The air wing is equipped depending on the tasks to be solved during a combat campaign. Helicopters on deck and in hangars can accommodate from 16 to 32, depending on the ratio of anti-submarine, attack and transport aircraft of different geometric sizes.

The amount of manpower the ship takes on board is also important - 450 marines. This is a battalion.

It is also possible to urgently convert the ship into a floating hospital. This may become necessary when solving humanitarian problems or providing medical care to wounded soldiers as a result of combat operations.

And the Mistral is a ship designed for long voyages. Its autonomous range is 20 thousand kilometers. This is half the equator. If you need to restore order in rebellious colonies, then he is what you need. But we still need to rack our brains over the question of why Russia needs the Mistral. Our country does not have overseas territories. It seems that no one is planning to land troops somewhere in Australia or Argentina, and if such a desire arose, then they would need to buy not two, or even four ships... Moreover, the landing process itself is very unique.

How to land in French

The French "Mistral" stands aside, as already mentioned, twenty from the hot shore, where it is unclear what might be happening, and releases from its belly special barges on which the armored vehicles stand. For this procedure, he has a certain dock, into which the mentioned vehicles are brought in one by one, tanks and armored vehicles are loaded onto them, then they are flooded to the level of the surrounding world ocean, and only after that they leave their native floating base. The landing process takes place gradually and for a long time, many hours. According to our staffing table, four is a reinforced tank battalion, consisting of three companies and a command unit, that is, quite a bit. We can say with confidence that if someone hostile to us had tried to land somewhere near Anapa, the Bastion coastal defense complex would have stopped it quickly...

Helicopters

The French have their own rotary-wing aircraft. They are divided into classes according to their purpose, two of which are used as deck boats. Multi-role NH-90 and attack Tigers make up approximately equal parts of the air wing; lifting devices were designed for their size, ensuring the movement of equipment to the flight deck and back to the hold, where they are sheltered from storms, sea spray and undergo preventive maintenance. There are two elevators in total with a lifting capacity of 13 tons, one at the stern, the other next to the wheelhouse.

Our main deck helicopters are the anti-submarine Ka-27M and Ka-226, but the Ka-52 Alligator is also needed to carry out attacks on ground or sea targets. The dimensions of these machines differ from their French counterparts, and to a greater extent. The Mistrals for the Russian Navy were built taking into account the necessary adjustments.

Contract details

The French bargained desperately. The Russian side insisted on building three of the four planned helicopter carriers at its own shipyards using imported technical documentation. We agreed on half. In addition, the stern part was manufactured at the Baltic Shipyard, which also reduced the cost of the project. Of particular note is the high quality of work of domestic shipbuilders and the complete joining of all components during final assembly in Saint-Nazaire.

The condition was immediately stipulated that the French side would install some of the high-tech navigation equipment on the Mistral for Russia, and would only prepare installation sites for weapons and lay cable communications. The Russians will supply all missile and artillery systems themselves and their own.

An important factor when signing the contract could be the opportunity to master the latest shipbuilding technologies, if, of course, there is something to learn from the French. They mainly concern methods for assembling large-tonnage hulls, although Baltic Plant and the United Shipbuilding Corporation immediately received an order for nuclear icebreakers no less complex than the Mistral. The cost of the two military ships amounted to 1.2-1.5 billion euros plus 2.5 billion rubles for the work that had to be performed by Russian shipbuilders.

Weapons and warning systems

The main radar installed on the Mistral for Russia, which will be their “eyes,” is the French Thales. The design features of the housing made it difficult to install domestic analogues.

The initial paucity of defensive systems gave rise to additional requirements from the naval command to retrofit the ships with five Gibka air defense systems, designed to use Eagles and a pair of six-barreled rapid-fire artillery installations AK-630 30 mm caliber to hit low-flying high-speed targets. Anti-ship protection is carried out by complexes of supersonic cruise missiles capable of “operating” against coastal targets. Anti-submarine defense includes all possible hydroacoustic hardware.

The details of the retrofitting are not widely disclosed, but it is known that every Russian Mistral is a command ship, and not just a helicopter carrier and landing transport, so the saturation of the on-board computer complex with information technology is also very serious.

Balancing

A Mistral-class helicopter carrier is a large, large-capacity ship and needs balancing to ensure its stability in severe storms. Three vessels in service are equipped with an automatic system made by Norway “L3Marin”, which is responsible for balance. The intention to replace it on ships being built for Russia with a French balancer, tested on much lighter corvettes and frigates, raised objections from the customer. In addition, Rosoboronexport has a direct interest in this system, since the contract is so expensive. The navigational safety of Russian helicopter carriers is too important to skimp on.

Problems and solutions

Problems also arose with equipping the ship with shuttle vehicles. French double-hulled catamarans were rejected from the very beginning, and domestic high-speed hovercraft did not fit into the cargo compartment. It was agreed that the optimal solution would be to purchase domestic tank-landing boats “Dugong” and “Serna”, having a length of 45 and 26 meters, respectively.

The ice class of the hull has also been increased, since the contractor received the order based on the possible basing areas of the new ships. Unlike their French counterparts, their area of ​​responsibility is not limited to tropical waters, and in the port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, for example, it can be very frosty. However, at the time the agreement was signed, the Russian naval command was not sure where the helicopter carriers would be based. This was decided later.

Helicopter carrier operating experience

The USSR Navy was already armed with large aircraft-carrying anti-submarine cruisers - Leningrad and Moskva. The helicopter wing of these warships was intended to detect potential enemy submarines. After obsolescence and technical wear and tear, they were withdrawn from the Navy; no replacement was planned, since, in general, they turned out to be not much more effective than BODs of smaller displacement and, accordingly, much cheaper both in production and in operation. Low modification potential also contributed to obsolescence, which was reflected in the impossibility of converting hangars for modern helicopters. In general, world experience shows that it is not worth saving on aircraft carriers; they should be built with reserves, taking into account the possibility of their retrofitting in the process of improving control systems, weapons, communications, navigation and detection. In this case, expensive ships can serve for decades. The extent to which a Mistral-class helicopter carrier meets this criterion is a big question.

"Admiral Kuznetsov" in its design is not an analogue of "Mistral". This ship performs completely different functions, does not carry forces for landing and has completely different performance characteristics.

International reaction

The ships had not yet been completed, but it had already been announced that the main Far Eastern military harbor would become the home base for the newest Russian helicopter carrier, Vladivostok, built according to the Mistral project. This news aroused the ongoing concern of the Japanese government, which saw some aggressive intentions in strengthening the composition of the Russian Pacific Fleet. Of course, the diplomatic maneuvers of our eastern neighbor are exclusively politically motivated and fit into the general format of claims to the “northern territories”, the issue of which is raised periodically, on the eve of the next elections. Even the bravest patriotic Japanese science fiction writers cannot imagine that the Russian marines will land a tank battalion somewhere on the island of Hokkaido for several hours. In the photo, the Mistral looks impressive, but even after equipping this ship with cruise missiles, it will not turn into a missile cruiser, it is very slow, and in general, that is not what it was built and bought for. And for what?

Military specialist Serdyukov

It would be more correct to ask not for what, but why and why. Former Minister of Defense A.E. Serdyukov obviously understood little about strategic issues. He was far more gifted with natural artistry (of course, he has the makings of a good film director). Perhaps he immediately imagined how formidable and huge transport and landing ships would look on the ocean expanses under And in addition to artistic merits, Mr. Serdyukov, apparently, also has a certain commercial acumen. But these are just assumptions.

It is quite possible for the Russian government to admit the fallacy of the Mistral idea; it is simply humanly inconvenient. Two ships (“Sevastopol” and “Vladivostok”) can already be considered accepted by the command of the Navy, and their uselessness is supported by the fact that the Russian side practically refused to build another pair, although this has not yet been directly stated. We just decided to wait.

Actually, nothing terrible happened. Dock-type landing helicopter-carrying ships are not entirely consistent with Russian military doctrine, but from time to time international complications arise that force a change in previously developed approaches. One can say about such vessels that they are “just in case of fire.”

Money was spent on warships, this was not done in the best way, but helicopter carriers can be used in peacekeeping operations, which, as the events of recent months have shown, are quite possible.

MISTRAL

A cold north or northwest wind that blows in winter and spring on the southern coast of France.

Large modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. 2012

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what MISTRAL is in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

• MISTRAL in the Literary Encyclopedia:
  Fredery is a Provençal poet, the largest representative of the new Provençal literature (see), one of the founders and leader ...
• MISTRAL in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  (Mistral) Gabriela (real name Godoy Alcayaga Godoy Alcayaga) (1889-1957), Chilean poetess. In 1924-46 at diplomatic work. The lyrics combined the traditions of Spanish...
• MISTRAL in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
  Mistral (Frederic Mistral) - New Provençal poet, born. in 1830 after a number of small plays in Provençal. dialect he gave a rural poem "Mireio" ...
• MISTRAL in the Modern Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  
• MISTRAL
  (Mistral) Gabriela (1889 - 1957), Chilean poetess. Lyrics (collections “Sonnets of Death”, 1914, “Despair”, 1922, “Tala”, 1938, “Davilnya”, 1954) united traditions ...
• MISTRAL in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  i, m. Strong and cold north or northwest wind blowing from the mountains to the South. France.||Wed. BORA, BORAY, BREEZE...
• MISTRAL in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  , -i, m. In the south of France: strong northwest ...
• MISTRAL
  MISTRAL (French mistral), strong and cold local north-west. wind in the south of France. Resembles boron...
• MISTRAL in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  MISTRAL (Mistral) Frederic (1830-1914), Provence. poet, head of the felibre movement. Poem "Mireio" (1859), collections "Golden Islands" (1876), "Collecting Olives" (1912) ...
• MISTRAL in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  MISTRAL (Mistral) Gabriela (real name and last name Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, Godoy Alcayaga) (1889-1957), Chil. poetess. In 1924-46 for a diploma. work; ...
• MISTRAL in the Complete Accented Paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
  mistra"l, mistra"li, mistra"lya, mistra"ley, mistra"lyu, mistra"lyam, mistra"l, mistra"li, mistra"lem, mistra"lya, mistra"le, ...
• MISTRAL in the New Dictionary of Foreign Words:
  (French mistral) a strong and cold north or northwest wind blowing from the mountains to the south. ...
• MISTRAL in the Dictionary of Foreign Expressions:
  [fr. mistral] strong and cold north or northwest wind blowing from the mountains to the south. ...
• MISTRAL in the dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian language.
• MISTRAL in the New Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
  
• MISTRAL in Lopatin’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
  mistral, ...
• MISTRAL in the Complete Spelling Dictionary of the Russian Language:
  mistral...
• MISTRAL in the Spelling Dictionary:
  mistral, ...
• MISTRAL in Ozhegov’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
  In the south of France: strong northwest...
• MISTRAL in the Modern Explanatory Dictionary, TSB:
  (French mistral), a strong and cold local north-west wind in the south of France. Resembles bora. - (Mistral) Gabriela (real name...
• MISTRAL in Ushakov’s Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
  mistral, m. (French mistral) (geographical). Northwestern dry and cold wind in the southern ...
• MISTRAL in Ephraim's Explanatory Dictionary:
  mistral m. Cold north or north-west wind blowing in winter and spring on the southern coast ...
• MISTRAL in the New Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
  m. Cold north or northwest wind blowing in winter and spring on the southern coast...

However, during the construction process, most of the arguments were for the fact that, At that moment, our shipbuilders were almost 100% loaded with military and civilian orders and did not have all the technologies (although parts of the hulls were built at Russian shipyards) for the construction of such ships.

Soon after the annexation of Crimea to Russia. Until recently, I believe everyone believed that France and in particular business circles would not dare to disrupt such a large international order for the sake of political talk. After all, they warned that money is nonsense compared to reputation and precedent. However, as we know, France is a dependent country and it is not simply given an independent policy. The decision was made not in favor of Russia and not in favor of France.

And this is what this peculiar “black mark” led to the shipbuilding company STX France from Saint-Nazaire...

After the failure of the contract for the supply of Mistral landing ships to Russia, the STX France company from Saint-Nazaire (France) was predicted to have serious problems. Complications were associated with difficulties in selling ice-class ships and narrow specialization for Russian-made equipment.

If the company managed to sell these vessels at almost cost, then the reputational risks in this situation turned out to be more serious. After failing to fulfill a Russian order, STX France received a “black mark” from Russia. This was the reason that other global customers sharply reduced contacts with the unreliable shipbuilder.

As a result, the French shipyard fell into a protracted recession, wage debts accumulated, which brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy. The solution was found in the sale of the company. However, after the auction was announced, it turned out that such “toxic assets”, spoiled by scandals with the Russian Federation, do not arouse much interest among investors.

At the moment, only one single company has submitted a real bid to purchase STX France. The shipyard's management, however, said that if the transaction price was too low, the auction could be cancelled. The current state of affairs is clear evidence that the failure to fulfill the Russian contract has actually brought the French shipbuilding company to the brink of survival....

And what does Russia have as a result? Russia returned all the money spent on this project and received a large contract from Egypt for the supply of equipment and helicopters for the Mistrals sold to Egypt. The operation in Syria showed the correctness of calculations regarding the need for such ships for Russia, and having received documentation and experience in building hulls, Russian shipbuilders will now be able to build such ships themselves.

It is not for nothing that there have already been statements that Russia is developing analogues of the French Mistrals.

According to Vladimir Tryapichnikov, head of the Russian Navy's Shipbuilding Department, this will be a large displacement ocean landing ship that will be able to transport a large amount of military equipment and personnel. “Today, our military-industrial complex is quite capable of building landing ships of this class,” said Tryapichnikov.

Earlier, Oleg Bochkarev, deputy chairman of the board of the Russian Military-Industrial Commission, stated that Russia plans to build Mistral-type helicopter carriers itself. However, he stressed that these will not be exact copies of French helicopter carriers, but ships with a “different approach.”

sources

The origins of the Mistrals are known in great detail.

Universal amphibious helicopter dock carriers, adopted by the French Navy in the amount of three units. Large ships with a total displacement of over 20 thousand tons with a continuous flight deck, a hangar for storing aircraft and an aft docking chamber for landing boats.

They are built on a modular basis in accordance with civil shipbuilding standards, which has a positive effect on reducing costs and accelerating the pace of their construction. The maximum duration of construction of the Mistral UDC, taking into account all identified problems and inevitable delays, does not exceed 34 months. The cost of purchasing two ships under the “Russian contract” amounted to 1.2 billion euros, which corresponds to the cost of one amphibious transport dock ship of the San Antonio class (USA). Impressive.

"Tigers" on the deck of the "Mistral"

Just how “French” is this “steam”?

The Mistral UDCV project was born thanks to the efforts of the General Armament Delegation (Délégation Générale pour l "Armement) and the French state defense company DCNS (Direction des Constructions Navales) with the involvement of a number of foreign contractors: Finnish Wärtsilä (marine diesel generators), Swedish department of Rolls-Royce (Azipod-type steering columns), Polish Stocznia Remontowa de Gdańsk (mid-hull blocks forming a helicopter hangar) The development of a combat information system and ship detection equipment was entrusted to the international industrial group Thales Group, a world leader in the development of radio electronics. systems for aerospace, military and naval self-defense systems were supplied by the European company MBDA. The multinational format of the project does not confuse the French at all - a single European space with a single currency, living under common laws and rules. The fleet is built according to common NATO standards. .

But, what is most surprising, the Mistral project is not limited to the European continent: its threads stretch far to the east, to South Korean Gyeongsangnam-do. To where the STX Corporation headquarters is located.

The Mistrals for the French Navy were costed according to the following scheme: the UDC hull was ultimately formed from two large sections - bow and stern. The stern and superstructure were built at DCNS's own facilities with the participation of many subcontractors: the skeleton of the stationary ship was regularly towed from one French shipyard to another, where it was gradually supplied with equipment: the bulk of the assembly work was carried out in Brest, Rolls-Royce engines and propellers Memade" was mounted in Lorient. The final saturation of the finished hull section and the installation of electronics and radio systems were carried out by specialists from the ship repair yard in Toulon. In total, DCNS accounted for about 60% of the work performed.

The bow of the amphibious helicopter carrier was built in Saint-Nazaire, at the famous Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, which at that time belonged to the French industrial giant Alstom. This place became the cradle for the most impressive projects in the field of large-tonnage shipbuilding - the legendary liner Queen Mary 2 set off from here. Here, in the 70s, a series of Batillus-type supertankers with a deadweight of more than half a million tons were built! The bow parts of each of the Mistral UDCs were also assembled here.

In 2006, the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard was transferred to the Norwegian industrial group Aker Yards. However, soon, in 2009, the shipyard, like the entire Aker Yards group, was absorbed by the South Korean corporation STX. The third Mistral-class ship, Dixmude (L9015), was already being completed by the Koreans.

The Mistral helicopter carriers were built by the whole world. France with the participation of Poland, Sweden, Finland... - the entire European Union is assembled! At French and South Korean shipyards. Despite such a complex industrial chain and a huge number of foreign contractors, the new UDCs, in general, met the expectations of the French Navy command - a universal and relatively cheap means of delivering humanitarian aid and expeditionary units to countries in Africa and the Middle East. For example, the Diximude UDC took part in Operation Serval (suppression of unrest in Mali, 2013), delivering units of the 92nd Infantry Regiment (92ème Régiment d’Infanterie) from France to the African continent.

A ship without a homeland

With the French Mistrals, everything is extremely obvious - the ships were built through the joint efforts of partner countries. The close economic, political and military ties between the countries of the Eurozone and even the distant, but in fact close, Republic of Korea are beyond doubt. Unified international standards and transnational companies are erasing the boundaries of states, uniting under their leadership the scientific and industrial potential of many countries.

But where and how are the Vladivostok and Sevastopol, two amphibious helicopter carriers intended for the Russian Navy, being built?

According to the contract, which has become the largest military deal between Russia and Western countries since the end of World War II, in 2014 and 2015, the Russian Navy’s naval fleet should be replenished with two imported Russian-French-built UDCs.
We quickly moved from words to action:

On February 1, 2012, cutting of metal for the first ship, called Vladivostok, began in Saint-Nazaire. On October 1 of the same year, work began at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg - according to the contract, domestic shipbuilders must build 20% of the aft sections of the helicopter carrier.

It is not difficult to guess that the general contractor was the South Korean STX - it is she, with the support of the French defense company DCNS and a number of third-party suppliers, that is building helicopter carriers for the Russian Navy at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire.

On June 26, 2013, the Baltic Shipyard completed the planned scope of work on time, launching the stern of the new Mistral - a month later, the stern section was safely delivered to Saint-Nazaire for subsequent docking with the main part of the ship.

On October 15, 2013, the Vladivostok landing ship was officially launched. After completing all work at the French shipyard, it will move to the outfitting wall of the Severnaya Verf plant (St. Petersburg) for final saturation with domestic equipment.

It is expected that the new helicopter carrier will enter service with the Russian Navy at the end of 2014 - beginning of 2015. Less than three years from the date of bookmarking! An unprecedented result for domestic shipbuilding, where one frigate can be built over the course of 8 years.

The second ship of the “Russian series” - “Sevastopol” - was laid down on June 18, 2013. It will be built according to a similar scheme, with the only difference that the Baltic Shipyard will provide the construction of 40% of the UDC hull. The ship should enter service before the end of 2015.

Also, the agreement between Russia and France includes options for the construction of the third and fourth helicopter carrier under license at its own industrial facilities - it is assumed that for these purposes a new shipyard will be built on the island. Kotlin. But, as it became known at the end of 2012, plans to exercise these options were postponed from 2013 to 2016, which gives the whole story a hazy shade of uncertainty.

Among the suppliers and contractors in the global industrial chain are: the Russian United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), the state defense company DCNS, the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard of the South Korean company STX, the Finnish Wärtsilä and the Swedish division of Rolls-Royce (power plants and propulsion units). ). The participation of Thales Group is extremely important - the equipment and systems supplied by this company are of the greatest interest to the Russian military-industrial complex (primarily the Zenit-9 combat information and control system). They also promise to equip the Russian helicopter carrier with Vampir-NG infrared search and targeting systems from the French company Sagem. Despite the abundance of foreign equipment, the French promise to carry out complete Russification of all ship systems in order to avoid any problems during its operation in the Russian Navy.

The air group will be represented by domestic Ka-29 transport and combat helicopters and Ka-52 attack vehicles. The first of the Russian Mistrals will have to be equipped with French-made high-speed boats - the layout and dimensions of the docking chamber were initially designed for the dimensions of NATO equipment. Therefore, it is not possible to effectively deploy existing Russian-made landing craft inside the Mistral. However, this is not the biggest problem, moreover, it was successfully resolved.

Counting the number of subcontractors who took part in the creation of a helicopter carrier for the Russian Navy, one can sing “Internationale” - the French landing ship turned out to be, in fact, “Noah’s Ark”, incorporating technologies and participants from all over the world.
And we have to admit: the project was a 100% success.

Despite angry accusations of “wasting” public funds, the Mistrals turned out to be VERY cheap. 600 million euros ($800 million) for each combat unit - even taking into account all the additional procedures associated with fine-tuning the ship's systems, testing it and eliminating identified deficiencies - the cost of the Mistral will not exceed a billion dollars. This is incredibly high from the point of view of the average Russian. But mere pennies by the standards of modern shipbuilding.

800 million dollars - even a normal destroyer cannot be built for that kind of money now. American Burkes cost the Pentagon $1.8-2 billion apiece. The cost of the small Russian corvette of Project 20385, according to the High Command of the Navy, can reach 560 million dollars (18 billion rubles)!

In this case, we have a large helicopter carrier with a displacement of 20 thousand tons. Moreover, built in an extremely short time, the result is obvious, and it is difficult to notice any corruption component here. It is not possible to build something similar for a lower price.

Sailor, take off your bast shoes when stepping onto the deck of the democratic European Mistral!

Fears that the Mistral will not be able to operate at temperatures below +7 degrees Celsius are completely unfounded.

Russia, along with Scandinavia and Canada, are undoubtedly the northernmost countries in the world. But let me ask you how this applies to Mistral? Nobody is talking about basing it in the Far North - Russia, fortunately, is monstrously large and we have enough other basing locations with more adequate natural and climatic conditions. Novorossiysk. The weather forecast for December 1 is plus 12°C. Subtropics.
Vladivostok is colder. Latitude is Crimean, longitude is Kolyma. However, even there the operation of the UDC should not encounter any critical difficulties - the operational zone of the Pacific Fleet includes the entire Asia-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean, where, as is known, the temperature rarely drops below +7° Celsius.
The Mistral is not suitable for operations in the Arctic. But he simply has nothing to do there. But there is something to do in the Mediterranean and other southern seas.

Statements about the non-compliance of the infrastructure of the locations and the standards of domestic diesel fuel with European standards are not worth the candle. The Mistral is not as large as it is imagined - for example, it is smaller than the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great. The length of the helicopter carrier is only 35 meters greater than the length of the average BOD or destroyer. The empty displacement of this “ferry” with the unloaded air wing, boats, equipment, weapons and fuel reserves should not exceed 15 thousand tons.

Dixmude (L9015) compared to the Lafayette-class frigate (full capacity 3600 tons)

As for the inconsistency of domestic brands and varieties of fuel and lubricants with high-tech Mistral engines... Who can you surprise now with “outlandish” imported equipment - Finnish diesel generators from the Värtislya company?

The most formidable accusations brought against the French “ferries” are their low combat potential and absolute uselessness within the framework of the defensive concept of using the Russian Navy. The "cabin carrier" itself needs high-quality cover from the sea and from the air and is not capable of participating in a naval battle. Full speed 18 knots. Instead of serious self-defense systems - MANPADS and machine guns. Powerful radar equipment? Sonar? Strike weapons? Anti-submarine missile torpedoes? None of this exists and cannot exist - that is why the price for such a large ship is so low. From the navy's point of view, the Mistral is an empty box. The presence of 16 helicopters no longer means anything in modern combat - the Ka-52 is not a competitor to a fighter-bomber.

But as soon as you open the news file for 2013 - where and what the Russian Navy is doing - everything immediately falls into place. “Mistral” is not suitable for combating the AUG of a “probable enemy”, but it is ideally suited to the tasks of ensuring the presence of the Russian Navy in the vastness of the World Ocean. A large ship with a monumental appearance and modern design, capable of being “on the front line” for months - off the coast of Syria or wherever required. Comfortable quarters for a Marine battalion. Cargo deck for armored vehicles. Helicopters. If necessary, “humanitarian aid” can be delivered to allies - and in a variety of ways. Non-version of the Soviet BDK!

Overall, the verdict is positive. The only truly worthwhile question is: could the Russian Navy do without purchasing these ships? Experts at various levels agree that buying Mistrals is far from the most rational decision. We still have enough large landing craft from the “Soviet reserve”. New ones are being built - project 11711 “Ivan Gren”. But there is a critical shortage of warships of ranks I and II - cruisers, destroyers, frigates. So much so that we have to assemble a Mediterranean squadron from all four fleets.

Finally, if our specialists were so eager to get acquainted with “advanced” Western technologies, they could have purchased equipment that was more interesting than the French “ferry”. Even with the Zenit-9 BIUS and Vampir-NG IR sensors.

For example, it would be interesting to examine up close the Franco-Italian Horizon-class frigate (destroyer) - the most powerful and advanced air defense ship in the world after the British Daring. If the Horizon turns out to be too secretive, a non-nuclear submarine of the Skopren type with a Stirling engine could be suitable as a “demonstrator” of new technologies. Something for which we have no analogues yet. The French (DCNS) and the Spanish (Navantia) are happy to build such equipment for export: for the fleets of India, Malaysia, Brazil, Chile...

Alas, the interests of the sailors remained in the shadow of geopolitical intrigues. We chose Mistral. So take it quickly, without further ado! So far, the allocated funds have not gone offshore.

Moreover, the boat is really not bad.

The Egypt Independent reported that the Russian-Egyptian deal for deck-based Ka-52K helicopters (naval version) for two Mistral-class universal landing ships (UDC) has entered its final phase. In the very near future, no later than the end of May, the Arab Republic of Egypt (ARE) will make the final and expected decision.

The Mistral UDC, as is known, can carry up to 16 helicopters, however, most likely, Cairo will order 8 helicopters per ship. According to available information, work is currently underway to adapt the Ka-52K to the requirements of the Egyptian side.

In addition to the Alligators, Moscow, firstly, will return to the Mistral the equipment removed after the famous contract was broken, secondly, together with Paris, it will provide maintenance for the ships and, thirdly, it will train the Egyptian crews. Thus, we can talk about the beginning of the formation of a new strategic alliance in the Middle East.

Let us recall that in January 2017, Egypt announced the creation of its Southern Fleet. In addition to the Mistrals, built by STX France from Saint-Nazaire (France), it will include the French-Italian multi-purpose frigate FREMM, 4 Gowind 2500 class corvettes and 4 German-built Project 209 diesel-electric submarines. It is obvious that the capabilities of this group of warships without air support do not correspond to the stated geopolitical ambitions.

In this matter, Russia plays an extremely important role, which, together with France, pushed through a deal to sell “its former” Mistrals specifically to Egypt, whose relations with the United States sharply deteriorated in the summer of 2013 - after the overthrow of an Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. The shameless US interference in the internal affairs of Egypt by supporting the so-called “Arab Spring” became a cold shower for the majority of Egyptians, who realized into what abyss the Americans were pushing them.

It is logical that Cairo began to prefer Paris and Moscow in matters of military cooperation, which, despite pressure from Washington, were able to maintain business contacts between themselves. Egyptian journalist Ahmed Syed, tracking the history of helicopter carriers, noted the special warm relations between Egyptian, French and Russian specialists working on the ships.

The fact is that the refusal to supply Mistrals to our country had a negative impact on the reputation of STX France in particular, and the image of the entire French military-industrial complex. This was evidenced by a survey of French society in 2015, when 72% of citizens of the 5th Republic were convinced that compliance with military contracts is in the national interest, while their failure is fraught with great economic risks.

That is why Paris did everything to keep the wolves fed and the sheep safe. France returned 949.7 million euros in advance payment to Russia, and actually transferred three key technologies, including large-block construction of helicopter carriers and waterproof protection from Admiralteïski. The newspaper Le monde estimated the cost received by Moscow design documentation for UDC in the amount of 220 million euros.

At the same time, from a formal point of view, France fulfilled all the requirements of the “Washington regional committee” to boycott Moscow. As a result, Paris's reputation as a reliable arms supplier was restored, which had a positive impact on the results of the French military export system, which was able to sharply increase supply volumes.

From the very beginning of the discussion of the details of the sale of the Mistrals to Egypt, it was clear that Egyptian sailors would need active support from our Ministry of Defense. The helicopter carriers were built taking into account Russian requirements and for Russian systems. It is technically possible to rebuild them to NATO standards, but it is not commercially justified: it is cheaper to send them for scrap.

In any case, the Secretary General for Defense and National Security of the 5th Republic Louis Gautier, who was the main negotiator for the French, admitted that many difficult agreements remained behind the scenes, where even emissaries were not allowed Obama. Meanwhile, if we return to the original Russian-French contract on the Mistrals, then the issue of technology transfer was on the agenda of the contract as an integral part of it.

If the Russian Federation wins the helicopter tender (and the probability is very high), then Egyptian specialists will allow Russian naval engineers and designers access to all Mistral systems. This will allow our specialists to understand in practice how NATO helicopter carriers operate. In fact, the Russian Ministry of Defense does not hide the fact that the experience of such cooperation will be taken into account when developing similar vessels.

Apparently, all participants in the deal are keeping promises behind the scenes, ignoring shouts from Washington.

By and large, Russia initially planned to build helicopter carriers according to the French design at its shipyards. And ordering first one, and then two UDCs can be considered as a kind of commercial concession. To call a spade a spade, Moscow received the documentation for the Mistral for nothing. More precisely - for Cairo's money.

But it is likely that the most advantageous side will be ARE. With the deployment of the Egyptian Southern Fleet, Cairo will become a regional maritime power and will be able to protect the giant gas field recently discovered near its exclusive economic zone. Currently, Türkiye, Israel, Cyprus and Greece are claiming this asset. As experience in resolving this type of dispute shows, the best argument is warships.

Egypt also needs Mistrals to solve current problems, in particular, to protect the trade sea route in the Strait of Aden, as well as to contain Iran and Saudi Arabia in their conflict over the Houthis in Yemen.

Thus, none of the participants in this transaction were left at a loss. The 5th Republic, disobeying the United States, received additional military contracts; Russia received documentation for the Mistral and a new strategic ally, and Egypt acquired the status of a maritime power.