France to Sell Amphibious Assault Mistral Class Helicopter Carriers to Russia

THE SHIP



Why is France selling amphibious assault ships to Russia?

Feb 8th 2010, 23:14 by Charlemagne Economist

HERE is a story that may get bigger, as the full implications sink in. After much shilly-shallying and contradictory briefing, France has decided to sell Russia at least one, and possibly four, amphibious assault ships. In an unhappy piece of timing, the news broke as Robert Gates, the American defence secretary, was en route to France for an official visit.

The ship involved, the Mistral, is not just any hunk of steel. It is a 200m long warship, whose job is to land soldiers, helicopters and armoured vehicles on foreign shores. It can carry 15 helicopters, 13 tanks or several hundred troops (different reports talk of 750 soldiers, or a 1,000). After one of these hefty ships paid a port visit to St Petersburg, in November 2009, Vladimir Putin said on a visit to Paris: "I can assure you that if we purchase this armament, we will use it wherever deemed necessary."

French reports of the port visit make clear that authorities in Paris were all too aware of the sensitivities of their commercial project. It was, for example, deemed "provocative" when a senior Russian admiral approvingly declared that if such ships had been in the fleet in 2008, Russian forces would have overrun Georgia "within 40 minutes", rather than in 26 hours. After that sally went down badly, the Figaro reported, the Russians were careful to talk about using such ships for peacekeeping operations, and other kindly activities.

Several news outlets have named the French prime minister, François Fillon, as the driving force behind the deal. The Figaro, house journal of the Sarkozy administration, has talked of "doubts" among officials working for the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, which were finally overcome by the "necessity" of finding work for the French naval shipyards of Saint-Nazaire. Various clever-clogs in the French civil service also came up with a nice line repeated by several government members, that "one cannot say we need to build a partnership with Russia and then refuse to sell it arms." French officials have also briefed that the ship would be sold "bare", without advanced weapons systems. Yet last year, Le Monde talked of opposition to the sale from the French foreign ministry.

Hmm. I wonder if all those doubts have been quelled. It is early days, but it is interesting to note that the first French press reports of Mr Gates's visit played down the Mistral sale. Reflecting French official briefing, I would assume, the French reports focus on subjects like Franco-American co-operation in Afghanistan and the Iranian nuclear dossier, which also came up when the defence secretary met Mr Sarkozy and French ministers.

American press reports, in contrast, led off with the Mistral, and made Mr Gates's dismay at the sale announcement plain. Here is how the New York Times opens its first report online:

PARIS — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told French officials Monday that he was concerned about their plans to sell Mistral-class amphibious assault ships to Russia, although there is little if anything the United States could do to block the deal, officials said.

Members of congress in America, including Senator John McCain, have already expressed their concerns about the deal. I have a hunch this is not the last we will hear of the Mistral

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