Mistral - landing ships-helicopter carriers. Mistral-class amphibious assault ships

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13:26 23.04.2017

The next stage of negotiations on the supply of communication and control equipment for the Mistral helicopter carriers is starting in Egypt. According to a TASS source in the system of military-technical cooperation between Russia and other states, the Russian delegation has already left for Egypt. Negotiations are ongoing, the Russian delegation left for Egypt to discuss with the Egyptian side the parameters of a possible deal with ready-made technical proposals for communications and control equipment, an agency source said. TASS notes that it does not have an official

16:07 21.09.2016

Cairo asked Moscow for on-board radio equipment, communications and navigation systems Egypt turned to Russia with a request to sell electronic equipment for two Mistral-type amphibious assault ships (UDC) it had purchased from France. This was reported to Izvestia by an informed source in military-diplomatic circles. We are talking about systems that ensure the combat work of the air group of the ship, as well as electronic warfare equipment, which should increase the survivability of the ship. The interviewed experts believe that the supply and installation of the

11:33 06.09.2016

The defense ministers of the two countries are agreeing on this. The heads of the military departments of the Russian Federation and Egypt, Sergei Shoigu and Sedki Sobkhi agreed in Moscow on the training of Egyptian pilots for Ka-52K attack helicopters, which should be armed with Mistral-type amphibious assault ships (UDC). This was reported to Izvestia by a source in military-diplomatic circles. This directly indicates that Moscow and Cairo are close to concluding a major contract for the supply of Katran helicopters for the Egyptian Navy. Experts note that against the background of the strengthening of terrorists in the Sinai and

13:50 26.06.2016

The large landing ship Ivan Gren entered the Baltic Sea for the first time as part of sea trials, TASS was told at the Yantar shipyard. Recall that after the factory tests, Ivan Gren moved from Kaliningrad to Baltiysk for state tests. The ship will go out to sea with a landing party, land it on the coast, receive and send helicopters and other tasks for combat use. Sea trials are the first stage in evaluating the ship's readiness. Ivan Gren's going to sea will last several days, during which time the running

10:36 22.06.2016

The Mistral-class helicopter carrier, built for Russia but sold to Cairo, takes part in the joint exercise of the French and Egyptian navies, which started in the Mediterranean. According to the publication Al-Ahram, the joint exercises were the first for a ship built in France. Prior to this, the helicopter carrier, named Gamal Abdel Nasser, went to sea only for small technical tests, including for the study of the Egyptian crew. The current joint exercises of the fleets of both countries, code-named Cleopatra, will last for several days.

15:51 12.06.2016

The Mistral-class amphibious assault ship, sold to Egypt and bearing the name Gamal Abdel Nasser, left the port of Saint-Nazaire and headed for the Mediterranean Sea, the DCNS shipbuilding corporation, which is the developer of the Mistrals, said. Gamal Abdel Nasser is a helicopter carrier originally built for Russia and called Vladivostok, a representative of the corporation recalled, TASS reports. In 2014, Paris suspended the supply of ships for which it received money, citing its disagreement with Russia's policy in Ukraine.

15:35 12.06.2016

The first French helicopter carrier Mistral, destined for Russia, left the port of Saint-Nazaire and went to Egypt. It is reported by AFP. The aircraft carrier was named Nasser. He follows to the Egyptian Alexandria. The city will become the home port of the helicopter carrier. The second helicopter carrier destined for Egypt will be named after former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. It will be delivered to Egypt in September this year. Note that in 2014 the French authorities froze the contract with Russia for the supply of Mistrals. Paris subsequently canceled the contract

14:15 02.06.2016

The epic with the construction of the Mistral helicopter carriers for Russia, France's refusal of the deal and the subsequent resale of the ships to Egypt has come to an end. According to the portal Ahram Online, the first of them was officially handed over to a new buyer, the Egyptian flag was raised over the ship, and he received the name Gamal Abdel Nasser - in honor of the second president of Egypt. The ceremony was held in the French city of Saint-Nazaire, from where the helicopter carrier will depart for its home port next week. Second ship to be named after another Egyptian president, Anwar

21:07 31.05.2016

The handover ceremony for the first of two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships built at the French shipyard STX in the French city of Saint-Nazaire will take place on June 2. With reference to unnamed sources, information about this previously appeared in the French media. The handover ceremony of the first Mistral-class helicopter carrier Gamal Abdel Nasser to the Arab Republic of Egypt will take place on June 2 in Saint-Nazaire. The Defense Ministers of France and Egypt will attend the event along with the head of DCNS Herve Guillou and the head of STX France

12:40 20.04.2016

Cairo turned to Russia with a request to supply electronic systems for two Mistral-class helicopter carriers purchased from France. This was reported to TASS by a military-diplomatic source. The Egyptian military delegation, which held talks with Rosoboronexport, unambiguously declared its desire to install Russian electronic weapons, including electronic warfare equipment, on the Mistrals purchased from France, and asked for their supply, the agency's source said. Request for specific equipment samples

10:23 29.02.2016

Made in Russia electronic equipment, which was intended for deployment on French Mistral-type landing helicopter carriers, was completely removed from French territory and transferred to the Russian Navy. This was reported on Monday from the United Instrument Corporation (OPK ed.). According to a representative of the corporation, all the equipment was completely removed from France and handed over to the Navy for operation and training of sailors. Recall that the story of the French Mistrals has been going on since 2011,

09:34 29.02.2016

The Russian Navy received radio-electronic equipment, which was located on Mistral-type landing helicopter carriers. This was told by a representative of the United Instrument-Making Corporation, RIA Novosti reports. In addition, he said that there is progress in negotiations with Egypt on the supply of equipment for the Mistrals. It is already clear that the equipment dismantled from the Mistrals, which was intended for use by the Russian Navy, will not be supplied to Egypt. Now the possibility of manufacturing another one in Russia is being discussed.

20:13 09.02.2016

Two Mistral-class helicopter carriers, after they are handed over by France to Egypt, will be largely equipped with Russian equipment. On Tuesday, February 9, RIA Novosti was informed by the Russian Ambassador to Cairo Sergey Kirpichenko. There is a fundamental understanding that the equipment of these ships will be largely carried out by the Russian side. The issue of helicopters was discussed. As far as I understand, the transfer of these two ships by France to Egypt is scheduled for the current year. After they are transferred, there will be a legal opportunity to deal with the subject matter

07:45 17.01.2016

Russia will start building its universal large landing ship (helicopter carrier) no earlier than 2018. This was announced on Saturday, January 16, on the air of the Russian News Service by the head of the shipbuilding department of the Russian Navy, Captain 1st Rank Vladimir Tryapichnikov. To date, such a large landing ship, including a universal landing ship, is being designed by design organizations. There are already developments, the appearance is determined by us. And the necessary implementation may come in 2018 when we start

06:33 13.01.2016

According to the French newspaper la Tribune in the material Mistral: DCNS envisage de lancer une procédure en contentieux vis-à-vis de la COFACE , the French concern DCNS intends to start a lawsuit against the French state insurance agency COFACE demanding compensation for all costs associated with the canceled contract for delivery of two universal landing ships (UDC) of the Mistral type to Russia. According to information from sources familiar with the situation, we are talking about an amount of about 100 million euros. Interestingly, the difficulties between the two

16:04 30.12.2015

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the military-industrial complex in the Russian government, said that Russia, after breaking the contract with France for the supply of Mistral helicopter carriers, returned compensation three times more than it paid for their construction. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that Russia only benefited from breaking the contract with France for the supply of landing ships of the Mistral type, Interfax reports. According to him, even though Moscow, due to disagreements with Paris on the Ukrainian crisis, has not received

This is a very old sport. It began with arguing about whether Russia needs aircraft carriers at all? Then they argued whether we needed these Mistral helicopter carriers. The contract was already very expensive and the ship was unusual in terms of functionality for our fleet. Remember how the construction of the UDC "Vladivostok" of the "Mistral" type was given.

However, during the construction process, most of the arguments were for the fact that we need such a ship for our configuration and ice class. At that moment, our shipbuilders were almost 100% loaded with military and civil 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, well-known problems began. 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 nothing compared to reputation and precedent. However, as we know, France is a dependent country and it is not just given an independent policy. The decision was made not in favor of Russia and not in favor of France. And this is what this kind of "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, STX France from Saint-Nazaire (France) predicted serious problems. Complications were associated with the difficulties of selling ice-class ships and a narrow specialization in equipment Russian production. The company suddenly "abruptly and unexpectedly" began to experience serious financial problems.

If the management of the company still managed to sell these ships at cost, then it would not be possible to restore the reputation. After the failure of the contract with Russia, the company received a bad reputation as an unreliable partner. This caused other customers to drastically reduce their contact with STX France.

As a result, the French shipyard fell into a protracted recession, wage arrears accumulated, which put the company on the verge of bankruptcy. The solution was found in the sale of the company. However, after the announcement of the auction, 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 company has submitted a real bid for the purchase of STX France. The shipyard's management, however, said that if the price of the deal is too low, then the auction could be cancelled. The current state of affairs is clear evidence that the failure to fulfill the Russian contract has actually put the French shipbuilding company on 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 Mistrals sold to Egypt. The operation in Syria showed the correctness of the calculations in 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 Shipbuilding Department of the Russian Navy, it will be a large-displacement ocean landing ship that can carry a large number 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 collegium of the Russian Military-Industrial Commission, said that Russia plans to build Mistral-type helicopter carriers on its own. However, he stressed that these would not be exact copies of French helicopter carriers, but ships with a "different approach."

Due to the “Mistral Affair”, Russia received the brains for the NCUOG:

At the end of 2015, Egypt "unexpectedly" bought the ships.

Many experts immediately expressed bewilderment: why does this country need ships of this type, and even without weapons? (The final bringing the Mistrals to combat readiness was to be carried out in Russia).

“Egyptian billionaire Nassef Onsi Sawiris, who allocated funds for the purchase of French Mistral helicopter carriers by the country and actually owns them, decided to resell them to Russia for a symbolic price of $1. The issue of selling two ships to Russia was agreed with the President of Egypt, Abdul-Fattah Khalil Al-Sisi,” the host of the Egyptian SIS TV channel reports.

“This is an important step aimed at bringing the two countries - Egypt and Russia closer together, strengthening their cooperation and great friendship,” the TV presenter notes.

It is possible that the entire deal for the purchase of Mistrals by Egypt was initially agreed upon (or organized by Moscow). It is also likely that even money for the purchase of ships to Nassef Onsi Sawiris was thrown from Russia. Simply by transferring part of the €1.1 billion sum that the French returned to Russia after refusing to hand over the ships.

In short, the company was able to sell Mistrals just above cost to Egypt, which will purchase deck equipment, equipment and train crews in Russia.

Russia received the money back, received a package of technologies as compensation (the welded technology that was used in the creation of these ships was especially important for us).

France, on the other hand, killed a good taxpayer, and the company itself (established in the 19th century) could not, after refusing to supply us with ships, collect orders to continue its activities, and went bankrupt (there were no fools who would like to deal with such unreliable partners).

The "invisible hand of the market" fired 4,000 people; a single bid was registered for the auction to sell the company, in which a price equal to 10% of the cost of one Mistral was offered.

The French themselves classify ships of the Mistral class not as traditional amphibious dock helicopter carriers in our understanding, but as amphibious command ships. This is how you can translate the original French designation of the Mistral subclass - Batiment de Projection et de Commandement. Hence its two main tasks - to land forces and means of landing and to manage the group, connection and association of ships or dissimilar forces.

Mistral helicopter carriers - video

By and large, the French experts quite successfully attempted to make a kind of "hybrid" of a universal landing ship capable of providing sea landing operations, and command and staff ship. Initially, the history of the project, on the basis of which the Mistral was later created, was much more prosaic. In the early 90s, when the Soviet Union collapsed, the military of the leading NATO countries faced the unwillingness of their governments to continue to allocate huge funds for defense against an external enemy, which then - in the person of Soviet Union- is no more. The leadership of the French shipbuilding giant DCN, which also found itself in the face of a reduced national defense budget, came to the conclusion, not without reason, that in the short term, amphibious helicopter carriers docks and ships that combine the advantages of a light aircraft carrier may be in demand from the navies of different countries of the world. with a bow springboard and a universal landing ship, which has a sufficiently large capacity and is equipped with a docking chamber - especially since the French already had developments in this direction.

In accordance with a fairly wide range of tasks, the solution of which was supposed to be entrusted to a promising ship, it had to have a large capacity for the personnel of the landing force and military and military equipment, be able to take on board and release landing hovercraft (DKAVP), provide permanent deployment on board combat and transport helicopters (including having a covered hangar to accommodate them), as well as having a stationary hospital, a well-equipped command post (flagship command post of a detachment commander or formation of ships), etc.
As a result, in 1992, at the next Euronaval exhibition, which takes place in Le Bourget in the same exhibition center as the international aerospace show, but in even years, DCN presented a project for a promising landing ship with a displacement of about 15,000 tons, called BIP-15 (from Batiment D'Intervention Polyvalent, i.e. "multi-purpose strike ship") and which was a kind of symbiosis of a light aircraft carrier and an amphibious dock helicopter carrier. The basis of its strike power was supposed to be a fairly large air group - six heavy helicopters of various types and eight VTOL aircraft, which could use a bow springboard for takeoff. In addition, the ship had an aft docking chamber for two LCAC DKAVPs or four conventional LCM displacement DKAs (the latter is often called a "landing barge").

Finally, in the middle of 2000, the decision of the command of the French Navy was officially announced - to create a new ship based on the BIP-19 project, and in June a tender was announced, in which two largest French shipbuilding companies were invited to participate: DCN and Chantier de Atlantique ( Chantier de l'Atlantique). The winner was announced quite quickly - by the end of the year, DCN received a contract for the construction of two ships of a new type, while the second participant received the status of a subcontractor and supplier of individual elements of hull structures. However, serious disagreements arose between the two companies on the issue of dividing the scope of work, and the final contract between the customer and the contractors was signed only in January 2001, so it was necessary to move to the right the time for the ships to enter the combat strength of the national navies - for 2005 and 2006. respectively.
As a result of all these ups and downs, the command to lay the lead ship was received only in July, and the “metal cutting” began in November 2001. The lead ship was given the name Mistral - after the name of the strong wind blowing in the Rhone Valley from north and north-west towards the sea (some analogue of the Black Sea bora). This Provencal word has been used since 1519, in a broader sense, it now means simply a strong wind.

Unlike the basic project - BIP-19 - on ships of the Mistral type there is no longer a bow springboard and VTOL basing is not provided, although theoretically this option is not excluded - the ship's flight deck allows you to take off and land on it like an aircraft. With a total displacement of about 21,300 tons, the ship is 210 meters long (with a flight deck length of 199 meters), and almost 32 meters wide. and 13 Leclerc main battle tanks (provided there are no helicopters in the hangar below deck). The landing capacity is 450 troops in full gear and with personal weapons, or 700-900 people "light", for a short period of time.
Throughout almost the entire upper deck, excluding the superstructure, there is a flight deck with an area of 5200 m2 (according to other sources - 6400 m2), on which there are six runways for the simultaneous release and reception of helicopters (they are easy to recognize by the corresponding markings). Below the flight deck, in the aft part of the ship, there is a helicopter hangar usable area about 1800 m2. To transfer helicopters to the flight deck from the hangar and back, there are two lifts in the aft. The landing of personnel and armored vehicles can be carried out either in an equipped port on the berth, or directly at sea using boats: the ships are equipped with an internal dock with a total area of about 2650 m2, which can accommodate two 95-ton LCAC-type DKAVP or four smaller LCM-type DKA displacement.

Mistral and Tonnerre BPC (bâtiment de projection et de commandment) new French 21,300 ton amphibious control and force projection ships. The ships were built by DCN in partnership with Thales and Chantiers de l'Atlantique. Each ship has the capacity and versatility to carry up to 16 heavy helicopters and one-third of a mechanized regiment, as well as two LCAC hovercraft or up to four landing craft. DCN became DCNS in April 2007. This was made possible by an agreement in which Thales became the owner of a 25% stake in the new company and DCN acquired Thales' naval business in France (excluding naval equipment). , which allows it to be used as a control ship.The ship is also capable of accommodating a combined (multinational) multi-role force.
The contract for two ships was placed in January 2001. The keel of the FS Mistral (L9013) was laid down in July 2003 and launched at the Brest Shipyard in October 2004. Mistral was commissioned into the French Navy in February 2006. Tonnerre (L 9014) was laid down in August 2003 and launched in July 2005, and was commissioned into the Navy in February 2007. The French Navy placed an order for a third ship, Dixmude, in April 2009. The ship's keel was laid down in January 2010. It was launched at the end of 2010 and should enter service in 2012.

In June 2011, the Russian arms export agency Rosoboronexport signed a contract with DCNS for the supply of two Mistral/BPC-class ships and related services. The deal is part of an intergovernmental agreement between France and Russia for the supply of four Mistral-class ships. Delivery of the first and second ship was planned for 2014 and 2015, respectively. In July 2006, Mistral took part off the coast of Lebanon in the operation of the French fleet to evacuate French citizens during the conflict involving Israel and Lebanon. Mistral and Tonnerre replaced the L9021 Ouragan and L9022 Orage, which were built at Brest Naval Dockyard and entered service in 1965 and 1968.

Management and control

The Mistral class is equipped with the DCN Senit 8 combat data processing system and will be compatible with the French fleet command system for joint operations SIC 21, which was developed by Thales. The high performance communications center includes the Thales Syracuse III satellite communications system.

Aviation capabilities and hangars

The ship has the ability to carry up to 16 medium or heavy helicopters below deck, such as NH90, SA 330 Puma, AS 532 U2 Cougar AS 665 or AS 665 Tiger helicopters. The flight deck has six landing sites and a 1800m² hangar. The 5,000 meter² flight deck can accommodate up to six helicopters simultaneously.

Amphibious capabilities of Mistral-class ships

The Mistral will carry either four landing craft (LCUs) or two landing craft hovercraft (LCACs). The French Navy has ordered new high-speed landing craft, engins de débarquement amphibie rapide (EDA-R), which can be deployed on the Mistral.

The crew of the ship consists of 160 sailors, including 20 officers. The operational campaign associated with the transportation of troops and equipment, as a rule, takes from two to three weeks. Mistral and Tonnerre carry enough supplies to support the crew and 450 troops for 45 days. The maximum speed is 19 knots, the range at 14 knots is 11,000 miles. The 750-meter² hospital with 69 beds is equipped with two operating rooms. If an additional hospital or additional sanitary places are required, the hangar can be converted into a modular field hospital.

Armament: armed with two launchers of French MBDA Simbad air defense missiles with infrared guidance and a range of up to 6 km. The ship also has two 30mm Breda Mauser naval cannons and four 12.7mm machine guns. The ship's electronic support facilities include the Thales ARBR 21 radar receiver, the MMR-3D NG G-band multipurpose surveillance radar from Thales Naval France. The MRT-3D has a light phased array antenna and works as a radar surveillance radar and as a self-defense system sensor with automatic mode switching. In the surface surveillance mode, the MRT-3D NG can detect targets at low and medium altitudes at a distance of up to 140 km, and in the long-range 3D surveillance mode, air targets up to 180 km. In self-defense mode, it can detect and track any threat within a 60 km radius. The Sperry Marine Bridgemaster navigation radar operates in the I-band.

The Mistral is the first French ship to be equipped with two 7 MW electric slewing drives. The power generation system consists of three 16V32 and one 18V200 Wartsila diesel generators providing 20.8 MW. Rightfully proud of their "work", the French company DCNS calls the Mistral in promotional materials nothing more than the "Chameleon" of the oceans. Currently, Mistral-class ships are in service only with the French Navy; the fleet has two such ships, Mistral and Tonner (Tonnerre - “thunder”). Attempts to deliver them abroad were unsuccessful, although almost simultaneously with obtaining a contract from the French Navy, the international branch of the developer company, DCN International, began to actively promote a whole family of such ships to the world market of naval equipment: BPC 140 (displacement 13,500 t), BPC 160 (16,700 t) and BPC 250 (24,500 t). At first, a high interest was shown in the ship from many countries of the world, in particular, the BPC 250 project was included in the "short list" of the tender announced by the Australian Ministry of Defense for the purchase of promising universal landing ships. However, the Australians preferred another bidder - the Spanish company Navantia (formerly Isar), which offered a project for a ship of the BPE type (Buque de Proyeccion Estrategica) for a tender. In fact, this is a universal landing ship, distinctive feature which is the presence of a bow ski jump to ensure takeoff of aircraft with a short takeoff and vertical landing.

The performance characteristics of helicopter carriers Mistral

Manufacturers: DCNS (aft, assembly), Brest; Alstom (bow), St. Nazaire; Baltic Plant (aft for two hulls in France)

Displacement of the helicopter carrier Mistral

21300 tons (full); 32300 t (limit)

Dimensions of the helicopter carrier Mistral

Length: 199 m (maximum)
- Width: 32 m (at the waterline)
- Height: 64.3 m
- Draft: 6.3 m (with GAS)

Mistral helicopter carrier engines

3 diesel generators Wärtsilä 16V32 (6.2 MW),
- 1 diesel generator Wärtsilä 18V200 (3.3 MW),
- 2 Alstom Mermaid propellers (7 MW)

Power: 20400 l. With. (15 MW)
- Propulsion: two five-bladed propellers
- Travel speed: 19 knots (maximum); 18 knots (cruising)
- Cruising range: 5800 miles (10800 km) at 18 knots (33 km / h); 10,700 miles (19,800 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
- Autonomy of navigation: 30 days

The crew of the helicopter carrier Mistral

160 men (20 officers) + 450 Marines (900 Marines short range)

Armament of the helicopter carrier Mistral

Radar armament: 2 DRBN-38A Decca Bridgemaster E250 navigation radars, MRR-3D NG target detection radar
- Artillery: AK-630
- Anti-aircraft artillery: 2 × 30 mm Breda-Mauser gun mounts, 4 × 12.7 mm Browning machine guns; "3M47" Bending
- Missile armament: 2 × 2 - PU SAM Simbad

Aviation Group

16 heavy helicopters or 32 light helicopters;
- The number of air groups on the Russian DVKD 30 Ka-52K and Ka-29 or Ka-27M helicopters

Photo of the helicopter carrier Mistral

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

Why was the Mistral created?

The mistral is a Mediterranean wind, rather cold, from time to time blowing over the southern coast of France, pampered and pampered by a mild climate. It cannot be compared with the piercing wet frosty currents of the Arctic air, to which Murmansk has long been accustomed, but to delicate Gallic noses it seems the height of discomfort. As much as the climate differs between France and Russian Federation. The Mistral-class helicopter carrier is essentially a large ship, practically devoid of an independent system of anti-submarine, anti-ship and air defense, 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 landing forces land on foreign shores, as it were, “remotely”. This happens as follows: a large ship approaches a hostile state at a relatively safe distance fifteen to twenty miles, then begins to load equipment onto special barge-boats, while attack and transport helicopters with specially trained soldiers fly forward, seize a bridgehead and ensure there is no resistance during the whole process. The landing craft is not even visible from the shore, and small transports arrive unexpectedly, unless, of course, the side 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 come 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 those who look 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 able to move through the sea at a speed of only 18 knots. The crew, including pilots, is approximately 170 team members. In addition to everything that distinguishes an aircraft carrier, that is, decks and under-deck hangars, it also has other features. For example, a compartment for transporting forty modern tanks. The Mistral is an aircraft carrier, but it is primarily a landing ship.

But it is 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 is ours who simply rest their nose on the beach, open the ramps, and “forward for their homeland!”. The armies of the NATO countries act differently, much more ingeniously. But more on that later.

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

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

An urgent re-equipment of the vessel into a floating hospital is also possible. This may become necessary when solving humanitarian problems or providing medical care wounded soldiers as a result of hostilities.

And the Mistral is a ship designed for long-distance voyages. Its autonomous range is 20 thousand kilometers. This is half the equator. If you need to restore order in the rebellious colonies, then he is what you need. But over the question of why Russia needs "Mistrals" we still have to break our heads. Our country has no overseas territories. No one seems to be planning to land troops somewhere in Australia or Argentina, and if such a desire arose, then it would be necessary to buy not two, or even four ships ... In addition, the landing process itself is very peculiar.

How is landing in French

The French "Mistral" stands aside, as already mentioned, twenty from the hot shore, where it is not clear what can happen, and releases special barges from its womb, on which armored vehicles stand. For this procedure, he has a certain dock, in which the mentioned vehicles are brought in turn, tanks and armored vehicles are loaded on 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 sedately and for a long time, many hours. According to our staffing 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 tried to land somewhere near Anapa, then the Bastion coastal defense complex would stop it quickly ...

Helicopters

The French have their own rotorcraft. They are divided into classes according to their purpose, two of which are used as deck ones. Multi-purpose NH-90s and strike "Tigers" make up approximately equal parts of the air wing, and lifting devices are designed for their size, which ensured the movement of equipment to the flight deck and back to the hold, where they take shelter from storms, splashes sea water and undergo preventive maintenance. There are two elevators in total with a carrying 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 Alligator Ka-52 is also needed to carry out strikes against land or sea targets. The dimensions of these machines differ from their French counterparts, moreover, in a big way. Mistrals for the Russian Navy were built taking into account the necessary adjustments.

Contract Details

The French bargained frantically. 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 Shipbuilding Plant, which also reduced the cost of the project. Of particular note high quality the work of domestic shipbuilders and the complete docking of all nodes during final assembly in Saint Nazaire.

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

An important factor in signing the contract could be the opportunity to master the latest shipbuilding technologies, if, of course, the French have something to learn. They mainly relate to methods for assembling large-tonnage hulls, although Baltzavod and the United Shipbuilding Corporation immediately received an order for nuclear-powered icebreakers no less complex than the Mistral. The cost of two warships amounted to 1.2-1.5 billion euros, plus 2.5 billion rubles for the work that Russian shipbuilders had to perform.

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 hull made it difficult to install domestic analogues.

The initial paucity of defensive systems caused additional demands from the naval command to equip ships with five Gibka air defense systems, designed to use Eagles and a pair of six-barreled 30 mm AK-630 rapid-fire artillery fire mounts to destroy low-flying high-speed targets. Anti-ship protection is carried out by complexes of supersonic cruise missiles capable of "working" against coastal targets. Anti-submarine defense includes all possible sonar hardware.

The details of retrofitting are not widely disclosed, but it is known that every Russian Mistral is a control ship, and not just a helicopter carrier and landing transport, so the information technology saturation of the onboard computer system is also very serious.

Balancing

The Mistral-type helicopter carrier is a large, large-tonnage ship and needs to be balanced to ensure its stability in severe storms. Three ships in service are equipped with an automatic Norwegian-made L3Marin system, which is responsible for the balance. The intention to replace it on ships under construction 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 the completion of the ship with shuttle vehicles. French double-hull catamarans were rejected from the very beginning, and domestic high-speed hovercraft did not fit in the cargo hold. We agreed that the best solution would still be the acquisition of domestic tank landing boats "Dugong" and "Cerna", having a length of 45 and 26 meters, respectively.

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

Helicopter carrier experience

The Soviet Navy was already armed with large aircraft-carrying anti-submarine cruisers - Leningrad and Moskva. The helicopter wing of these warships was intended to detect submarines of a potential enemy. After obsolescence and technical wear and tear, they were withdrawn from the Navy, they were not planned to be replaced, since, in general, they turned out to be not much more effective than the BOD of a smaller displacement and, accordingly, much cheaper both in production and in operation. Contributed to obsolescence and low modification potential, which was expressed 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 a margin, taking into account the possibility of retrofitting them in the process of improving control systems, weapons, communications, navigation and detection. In this case, expensive ships can serve for decades. To what extent the Mistral type helicopter carrier meets this criterion is a big question.

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

International reaction

The ships have not yet been completed, and it has already been announced that the main Far Eastern military harbor will become the base for the newest Russian helicopter carrier Vladivostok, built according to the Mistral project. This news aroused the usual concern of the Japanese government, which saw some aggressive intentions in the strengthening of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Federation. Of course, the diplomatic maneuvers of our eastern neighbor have an exclusively political motivation 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 assume 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-moving, and in general, it was not built and bought for that. And for what?

Military Specialist Serdyukov

It would be more correct to ask about, not for what, but why and why. Former Minister of Defense A.E. Serdyukov evidently understood little about strategic matters. Much richer, he was gifted with natural artistry (of course, he has the makings of a good film director). Perhaps he immediately imagined how the formidable and huge amphibious assault ships under A would look on the ocean. In addition to artistic merit, Mr. Serdyukov, apparently, also has a certain commercial acumen. But these are just guesses.

It is quite possible for the Russian government to recognize the fallacy of the Mistral venture, just humanly uncomfortable. Two ships ("Sevastopol" and "Vladivostok") can already be considered accepted by the command of the Navy, and in favor of their uselessness is the fact that the Russian side has practically refused to build another pair, although this has not yet been directly stated. We just decided to wait.

Terrible, in fact, nothing happened. Dock-type landing helicopter-carrying ships are not entirely consistent with Russian military doctrine, but from time to time there are international complications that force a change in previously developed approaches. It can be said about such vessels that they are “just in case of a 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 events have shown recent months, are quite probable.

The Egypt Independent publication reported that the Russian-Egyptian deal for Ka-52K carrier-based helicopters (sea version) for two Mistral-type amphibious assault 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 a final and expected decision.

UDC "Mistral", as you know, can carry up to 16 helicopters, however, most likely, Cairo will order 8 cars per ship. According to available information, now work in progress 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 breach of the well-known contract, and secondly, together with Paris, it will provide Maintenance ships and, thirdly, prepare the Egyptian crews. Thus, we can talk about the beginning of the formation of a new strategic alliance in the Middle East.

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 Franco-Italian FREMM multi-purpose frigate, 4 Gowind 2500 class corvettes and 4 German-built Project 209 diesel-electric submarines. Obviously, the capabilities of this group of warships without air support do not correspond to the declared geopolitical ambitions.

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

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 Sayed, tracking the history of the helicopter carriers, noted the special warm relations between the Egyptian, French and Russian specialists working on the ships.

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

That is why Paris did everything to ensure that both the wolves were fed and the sheep were safe. France returned 949.7 million euros in advance to Russia, and in fact handed over three key technologies, including large-block construction of helicopter carriers and watertight protection from Admiralteïski. The newspaper Le monde estimated the cost of the design documentation for the UDC received by Moscow at 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, the reputation of Paris as a reliable supplier of weapons was restored, which had a positive effect on the results of the French military export system, which was able to sharply increase the volume of deliveries.

From the very beginning of the discussion of the details of the sale of the Mistrals to Egypt, it was clear that the Egyptian sailors would need active support from our Ministry of Defense. The helicopter carriers were built to meet Russian requirements and 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 5th Republic Louis Gauthier, who was the chief 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 Mistral contract, 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 to access all Mistral systems. This will allow our specialists to understand in practice how NATO helicopter carriers function. Actually, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation 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 keep secret promises, ignoring the shouts from Washington.

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

But it is quite likely that ARE will be the most advantageous side. After 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. Now Turkey, Israel, Cyprus and Greece claim this asset. As the experience of resolving such disputes shows, warships are the best argument.

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 was left behind. The 5th Republic, disobeying the United States, received additional military contracts; Russia - documentation for the Mistral and a new strategic ally, and Egypt - acquired the status of a maritime power.