Article Posted on : - Jun 03, 2016

Mistral-class LHD. An internet imagery

PARIS (BNS): French shipbuilder DCNS has delivered the first of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers (LHD) to Egypt on June 2.

The flag transfer ceremony of LHD "Gamal Abdel Nasser" took place in the presence of Egyptian and French Navies' Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Rabie and Adm. Rogel, Herve Guillou, Chairman and CEO of DCNS, Laurent Castaing, Chairman and CEO of STX France, and other senior Egyptian and French officials, DCNS said.

The shipbuilder had on October 10, 2015, signed the contract with the Ministry of Defence of the Arab Republic of Egypt to supply the two Mistral-class LHDs.

By 2020, DCNS expects to have supplied at least seven combat vessels to Egypt, including four Gowind-class corvettes the contract for which was signed in July 2014, thus contributing to the modernisation of Egypt's defence system.

The shipbuilder has also delivered the FREMM multi-mission frigate Tahya Misr to the Egyptian Navy in June 2015.

The LHD Gamal Abdel Nasser will leave Saint-Nazaire in the next few days with the associated support vessels: two new-generation landing craft (CTM NG) and one EDAR fast amphibious landing craft. Before sailing to its home port of Alexandria, the helicopter carrier will participate in a joint exercise between the Egyptian and French Navies, DCNS said.

The two Mistral-class LHDs were originally intended for sale to Russia under a contract signed between Moscow and Paris in 2011. However, the deal fell out following the Ukraine crisis.