Russia to supply equipment and helicopters to Egypt’s Mistral helicopter carriers
Russia is entering into two contracts with Egypt: one relating to ship systems for the Mistral helicopter carriers, and the other relating to the Ka-52K helicopters which the ships will be equipped with, Rosoboronexport Director General Alexander Mikheev told Ria Novosti in an interview.
According to him, the Mistral helicopter carriers which Egypt purchased from France need to be retrofitted with additional systems in order to make use of Russian helicopters.
“This will be a separate contract. We would like to sign this year, although a lot depends on the funding source,” Mikheev said. He noted that the Mistrals are already joining Egypt’s navy. According to him, Cairo is interested in signing the contract as quickly as possible, in order to acquire helicopters for the full-scale functioning of the ships.
Another contract will concern the Ka-52K helicopters which Russia won the tender to deliver to Egypt. According to Mikheev, the helicopters’ “look-and-feel” and delivery dates have already been determined. According to him, the parties have not tied themselves to yearly contracts, but to the moment the prepayment is received.
In June 2011, Russia and France made a contract to acquire two Mistral helicopter carriers. The first ship, the “Vladivostok” was supposed to be transferred to the Russian navy in November 2014, but French President Francois Hollande announced the freezing of the contract. He explained his decision as starting with the political crisis in Ukraine due to Russia’s annexation of the Crimea and its involvement in the conflict in the Donbas. France terminated the agreement and paid Russia compensation of €949.7 million. Paris later sold the helicopter carriers to Egypt.
At the end of May it was reported that Russia intends to create an equivalent to the Mistral. As Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuriy Borisov announced, this will take place before 2022. According to Vladimir Pepelyaev, head of the prospective ship construction department at the Krylov State Research Center, these Russian equivalents will cost 40 billion rubles.