Paris, April 14: Following an arms deal between France and Russia, Paris will provide Moscow with two Mistral-class vessels that are fully equipped with NATO’s communication and control systems.
“Bilateral talks resulted in an agreement with the French party that they will take into account the Defense Ministry’s condition to provide all necessary systems and equipment to comply with the Russian Navy’s requirements,” a senior source in the Defense Ministry told Russia Today on Wednesday.
Under the intergovernmental deal that was reached in December 2010, Russia will acquire the helicopter carriers with the Zenith 9 communication and control system as well as the spare parts for the ships and technical documentation.
The helicopter carriers will include the option for licensed construction of two extra similar amphibious assault ships on Russian soil, Russian defense ministry sources said.
The Mistral class ships are capable of carrying 16 helicopters, four landing vessels, 70 armored vehicles, and 450 personnel.
Reports said earlier that negotiations over the deal had been stalled by a conflict over the armament of the vessels as well as the amount of intellectual property, which France is to hand over to Russian shipbuilders.
Some European military officials have also voiced concern over the equipment of the vessels with NATO’s communication systems and maintained that the deal with Russia may compromise the alliance members’ national security.
——–Agencies