Egypt buys Mistral ships from France, but wants Russia to complete them

TASS news agency quoted a source from the Russian defense diplomacy agency on April 20 saying that Cairo had sent a request for Moscow to equip two Mistral-class heavy helicopter landing ships purchased from France with onboard electronic systems.

“The Egyptian defense delegation has sent a request to Rosoboronexport Company asking for Russia's help in completing and installing onboard electronic systems for two Mistral-class landing ships, including electronic warfare systems,” TASS news agency reported.

Mistral-class helicopter carrier.

Although the time of sending the request has not been specified, some recent sources said that Cairo is planning and listing the equipment it wants to equip on the Russian Mistral-class landing ship. The above list was sent to Russia in April 2016.

It is currently unclear why Egypt wants Russia to complete the Mistral ship, rather than its French partner. Military experts say that Egypt has decided to equip the Mistral ship with Ka-52K helicopters, so choosing Russian electronic equipment is to optimize the price, as well as synchronize the equipment on the new landing ships.

In February 2016, the Russian United Shipbuilding Corporation said that Russia was ready to assist Egypt in completing the Mistral-class landing ship. However, the electronic equipment on board for Egypt's Mistral ship will be different from the version previously planned for the Russian Navy.

In May 2015, France and Egypt signed a contract to supply two Mistral-class landing ships that were part of a failed contract with Russia. Due to the failed contract, France had to bear all the costs of removing the on-board electronic equipment originally designed for the Russian Navy on these two warships. Along with that, Paris also had to return 949.7 million euros in contract deposits and the cost of building the assembly modules to Russia.

The qdnd.vn