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Russia Tells France It Gives Up On Mistral Ship Deal
With French ministers crowing about their better-than-expected GDP data (+0.7%) as some trend reversal that heralds a revolution, it appears Vladimir Putin is about to put a dent in their hopes and dreams. As Sputnik News reports, Moscow has finally given up on the $1.3 billion deal for two Mistral-class helicopter carriers and plans to build its own. Even worse for France, now Russia will discuss only the sum that Paris should pay Russia for the failed contract. However, as with everything in the world, there may be aulterior motive, as China comes sniffing as a white knight for the amphibious vessels (at a reduced price) and then sells to its 'ally' Russia (who has already pocketed the contract cancellation fees).
During the negotiations on the Mistral deal Russia and France have discussed only one question - the sum of the compensation.
"We switch the conversation to business - give us our money back... We're now discussing just one thing - the exact sum of money France owes Russia," Oleg Bochkaryov, a deputy chairman of the Russian Military Industrial Complex said.
Russia and France signed a $1.3-billion deal for two Mistral-class helicopter carriers in 2011. The handover of the first ship to Russia was scheduled for November 2014, but never happened. French President Francois Hollande put the delivery on hold due to Moscow's alleged interference in the Ukrainian crisis.
Moscow has repeatedly denied the accusations, and urged Paris to deliver on its contractual obligations.
Earlier today Oleg Bochkaryov told journalists that Russia plans to build its own Mistral-class helicopter carriers to replace the ones not delivered by France.
“We have these types of ships planned... but we will build them a bit differently. We’re not going to blatantly copy the [French] Mistral [design] right out,” Bochkaryov said.
click image below for interactive detail on the Mistral-class warship
However, while that may be immediate bad news for France, it appears there may be a silver lining. As The Diplomat's Ankit Panda wonders...
Is China Eyeing These Advanced French Amphibious Assault Ships?
China could be looking to purchase the two French Mistral ships that were originally built for Russia.
In 2014, France determined that it would avert plans to sell two of its Mistral-class amphibious assault ships that were originally bound for sale to Russia. The decision was spurred, in part, by pressure from French allies, including the United States, who saw a sale of a complex naval asset to Russia in the wake of its support of anti-government Ukrainian rebels as inappropriate. The deal between France and Russia had originally been concluded in 2011, and was canceled last year, leaving the French with two Mistrals in hand, miffed at the lack of an eager customer. The Franco-Russian agreement for the Mistral sale reached a final price of $1.37 billion euros for the two ships.
Two weeks ago, reports emerged in the Taiwan-based China Times, citing Duowei News, that China may be the latest customer for the French Mistral vessels. The report further noted that China’s People’s Liberation Army’s microblog noted a French task force visit to France. The French had sent two warships, including the Dixmude, the final Mistral-class ship built for the French navy. The French naval task force also comprised the Aconit, a La Fayette-class frigate. The report further noted that this visit marked the first time that a French Mistral docked at a Chinese port. All of this activity takes place amid the political difficulty of putting together a sale given the European Union’s still-in-place arms embargo against China–a retaliatory move for Beijing’s suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
The Mistral-class amphibious assault ship, named for the frigid, northwesterly wind that sweeps out from the French coast into northern Mediterranean waters, is well-equipped for island warfare, and littoral projection and command. For China, an investment in an advanced off-the-shelf amphibious assault vessel would be sensible given current tensions over disputed islands and sea features in the East and South China Seas. The Mistral is also capable of assisting in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) scenarios, with extensive hospital facilities on board.
The French had further modified the Mistrals that were Russia-bound to accommodate the Russian Navy’s Ka-27 Helix helicopters. China also operates the Ka-27, and the more advanced Ka-28. China has both the use scenarios and the military infrastructure necessary to make effective use of the ships. China could additionally apply its own domestic know-how in modifying the Mistral to serve as a potent anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platform. The Mistral‘s hangar deck would let the PLA-N conduct considerably less constrained helicopter surveillance operations than its own Jiangdao-class Type 056A frigates.
Of course, none of this, including the tenuous rumors picked up by some sources, mean that China is anywhere near finalizing a purchase of the two Mistrals that never made it into the Russian navy. The possibility of China snapping up the Mistrals on the open market will surely spark the same sort of concern in the United States as the prospect of the Russian sale did in early 2014. Already, commentators are making the case that it might make sense for the United States to pluck these ships off the market, lest China add two capable ships to its growing and increasingly modern navy.
As unlikely as a sale might be, watch this space. The fate of these two free-floating French Mistrals could end up further tilting the balance in Asia should China purchase them.
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To sum up: Russia ends deal, China steps in, France sells to China, then Russia buys from China
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Sarkozy was (and probably still is) a CIA asset.
you know, sarkozy is a jew
First off, Russian military never really wanted these floating shit targets; as Jack mentioned in previous messages, it was done to improve Russian-French cooperation, that's it. Now, Russians are super happy because the empire just can't stop shooting itself in the ass and keep profusely shitting diarrhea rain all over their EU vassals.
The West was built not due to some ingenuity or inventiveness of its populace but due to the utter, ruthless savagery and genocidal plundering the world has ever seen. China is probably the most ancient culture on the planet that preceded even Egypt and India. Chinese leadership will not be fooled by the moneychangers, low life gangsters and pathetic thieves from the Capitol Hill.
Check out this article and see what Xi and Putin are up to:
http://thesaker.is/saker-interview-with-jeff-j-brown/
how can it be? some perfectly intellegent people here seem to think that the US just tells other countries what to do and they do what the US says.
WRONG
The US blackmails the leaders of the other countries that disagree with the US. It is the threat of exposing sexual or corrupt behavior of Prime Ministers and Foreign Secretaries that has other countries doing a tap dance for the NSA.
For example Frau Merkel.
Remember when she said she had evidence that her cell phone was tapped by the NSA?
No one disputed that the NSA listened to an innocuous conversation.
But what about all the calls with her explicit carpet munching talk? They got that too.
Merkel shut up about that.
Sell them to Africa so they can use them to ship more refugees into Europe.
A train ride london-paris business class ( a 2 hour journey each-way ) costing £470 or approx. 650 euros or $800 is outrageous.
Sue all those travel booking companies who are claiming 4 star Paris hotels which are really 2 star;
On the plus side french girls have excellent ball juggling skills and they can clean their asshole and pussy in 30 seconds ( before next trick ) on a bidet.
(1) This saga is a commentary on the pathetic state of Russia's industrial infrastructure.
(2) Why would anyone want these? They are grossly lacking in self-defense capabilities, and France isn't known for quality in its naval construction. The Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier had one of her props fall off on her maiden voyage.
(3) The Putin Fluffers here are dreaming of unicorns and rainbows if they think China will be going out of its way to do a reach around for their "dear" Russian "friends". China is laser focused on themselves. Why on earth would the Chinese want to facilitate the Russians having a couple flat tops on their doorstep. (Russia intended to deploy thse to the Pacific)
(4) Once the contract is sorted out, there are lots of buyers. In addition to China, which really needs them for their play to control the South China Sea; India, Canada, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Malaysia, and Japan.
(1) One doesn't condemn the pathetic state of America's industrial infrastructure simply because of a series of failed rocket launches or failed fighter jet programs.
(2) American carriers are grossly lacking in self-defense capabilities too, but then they are not meant to be used on their own. That's why you have battle groups.
(3) Two Mistrals are insignificant as a threat to a country of China's size and capabilities. China can trade them for something with Russia.
(4) Spain and Italy are bankrupt. Canada, Malaysia and Brazil have no use for them, and cannot afford the cost of operation anyway. India is a possibility, but only in the sense of buying it on behalf of Russia. France won't dare selling the Mistrals to Japan, no matter how pushy Washington gets. How about the US? It's more bankrupt than the most bankrupt country in Europe - Britain.
What? WHAT?
....and the screw hasn't even fallen off yet.
ONE of the most embarrassing sagas in French maritime history took a further twist last week when France's most accident-prone warship began the countdown to another attempt to take to the high seas.
In the Ministry of Defence and on the quayside at Toulon, where the 40,000-ton aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle had been dry-docked, sceptical observers crossed their fingers and prayed for a fair wind.
The idea of France's first nuclear-powered carrier was dreamt up in 1986. It soon became a pet project of the then president, Francois Mitterrand. The ship that was built has proved, however, to be a humiliating and expensive naval failure. Fifteen years and £7 billion later, it has still to complete its first successful tour of service and has suffered a series of mishaps.
An attempt to go to sea in November ended characteristically in disaster somewhere in the Bermuda triangle. A substantial part of a 19-ton propeller broke off, obliging the carrier to limp back to southern France.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/993320/posts
France had wanted to sell that piece of junk to China at one point. China refused without even making a counter offer to buy it as scrap metal.
poetic justice would be China buying them at scrap prices then turning around and selling them to Russia for exactly the price of France's failure to perform
Looks like great technology for 50 years ago. It will make for fine artificial reef habitat soon enough.
Perhaps they will sell them to Vietnam or Japan or the Phillipines at cost plus customizations?
Everything happens for a reason, including having the French retrade on your ship deal. Russia will get back their money and get paid for the aft sections they sent to France from their Russian shipyard. No one is going to take apart these ships to give the Russians their property. The Russians have very quickly deduced that France will carry water for the US no matter what the cost to France. Ok, so no ships for us. Give us liquidated damages. Now they will go back and forth on the money. Eventually they will agree on a number, the money will be transferred and everyone goes about their business.
The interesting thing is that actually, the threat has changed for the Russians hasn’t it? Do they really even need these ships anymore? They aren’t going to do any amphibious landings are they? Maybe that’s why they went from ‘give us our ships’ to ‘give us our money instead’.
We are in WWIII right now. Except it is economic/legal warfare.
The Chinese don’t want these ships. They have their own capacity. Besides, the French are untrustworthy so why deal with them at all. Which to all of our French friends, you guys are what we call back home “Nigger Givers” in that you give something to someone and then steal it back. Thank your president, but you shall now be known as, “Those fucking surrender monkey, nigger giving, frogs!”
Now, if the French do something stupid like NOT paying the Russians for their aft sections and refunding the monies paid…well that’s another kettle of fish. Remember, the Americans have evolved and now instead of warfare, they use “lawfare” as we all know the POTUS POS Half Breed Bastard is, after all, a Harvard Lawyer. I expect the Americans and French to try to tie up the Russians for a few years before they pay any money.
In the meantime, my bet is they either A.) Scrap these ships or simply sink them OR B.) Take them out into international waters and NATO uses them for target practice after buying them from France for some token amount of money. I am very serious about option “B”. I think the NEOCONS/PSYCHOPATHS would very much like to antagonize the Russians by publicly humiliating them by taking ‘their ships’ out and using them for target practice for a carrier group BEFORE the Russians are reimbursed for their aft sections.
I don’t now, let’s see what those fucking surrender monkey, nigger giving frogs do next.
whats about the 12billion$ jet deal with india?
france actual ruling party screwed up so hard...
may some of their individuals are paid by someone?~~~?
It would appear France has lost most in this entire Mistral debacle...