Article Posted on : - Jun 18, 2011

Mistral warship.

PARIS (BNS): Russia has signed two Mistral/BPC ships type force projection & command vessels contract with France at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

The signing ceremony was attended by Dmitry Medvedev, the President of the Russian Federation.

The French company DCNS and Russian defence export agency Rosoboronexport have signed the contract under the Franco-Russian intergovernmental agreement of 25 January for the supply of four Mistral warship.

For this contract, DCNS will act as prime contractor and will also integrate the operations direction and communication systems. The shipbuilding of platforms will be subcontracted to the STX shipyard at Saint-Nazaire in western France assisted by Russian shipbuilder OSK, DCNS said.

Under the contract, the first ship will be delivered to Russia in 2014 and the second BPC will be delivered in 2015.

On January 25, France and Russia had signed a contract to jointly build the four Mistral class carriers. French shipyard companies DCNS and STX would build the two Mistral-class warships along with Russia's state-run United Shipbuilding Corporation.

Mistral class ships can carry and deploy up to 16 helicopters, including attack helicopters like France’s Tiger or Russia’s Ka-50/52. It has 4 landing barges or 2 medium hovercrafts, which deliver armored vehicles, tanks, and soldiers to shore.