Editor in Chief Bill | 28 Apr 2015 12:55 p.m. PST |
France is set to pay Russia $1.2 USD billion to settle the lingering dispute over two amphibious warships in a deal that went sour over the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine, according to French and Russian media reports.The deal — yet to be official — would have France keep the two 21,000 ton amphibs and retain the right to sell the ships to a country of their choosing, reported Le Journal du Dimanche. "Legally, this decision has not yet been formalized, but it is known that the Russian and French sides agreed within one month to determine the exact condition of cancellation of the contract for the supply of RF class ships Mistral, read a translation via the TASS Russian wire service… link |
John the OFM | 28 Apr 2015 1:08 p.m. PST |
Churchill did the same with two Turkish dreadnaughts at the onset of the Great War. "Hope you don't mind!" he said. They did. |
wminsing | 28 Apr 2015 1:56 p.m. PST |
Argh, I can't find the 'thumbs up' button for John's comment! :) -Will |
20thmaine | 28 Apr 2015 2:20 p.m. PST |
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15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 28 Apr 2015 2:26 p.m. PST |
Wouldn't it be funny if the Frogs sell them to Ukraine? |
Tgunner | 28 Apr 2015 2:31 p.m. PST |
To go with what navy? Do the Ukrainians even have a functional destroyer to their name? |
Rhino Co | 28 Apr 2015 7:00 p.m. PST |
Sell them to the US Navy. The US Marines need amphibs…not the F-35. |
Charlie 12 | 28 Apr 2015 7:33 p.m. PST |
Two possible buyers come to mind: India or China. |
cwlinsj | 28 Apr 2015 7:39 p.m. PST |
Any nation in the Middle East, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, plus probably a dozen more would buy them. |
bishnak | 28 Apr 2015 9:00 p.m. PST |
Australia doesn't need them. We just bought two 25,000T Spanish LHDs. We need to work out what we're gonna do with them first… |
Noble713 | 28 Apr 2015 10:28 p.m. PST |
Be funny if the Chinese bought them….and then sold them, or even some Chinese-made Yuzhao-class ships to Russia in their place. |
Mako11 | 28 Apr 2015 11:36 p.m. PST |
I'd like to see them go to Japan, or the Philippines. Of course, the latter don't have any escorts to go with them, so we'd need to work on that too. |
Martin From Canada | 28 Apr 2015 11:58 p.m. PST |
Wouldn't it be funny if the Frogs sell them to Ukraine?
What would they pay with? Ukraine is on IMF loans and you can't use those to buy military equipment. But when the IMF violates Article 1 of it's charter by lending money to a warzone/country in a civil war, rules turn into guidelines… |
David Manley | 29 Apr 2015 5:12 a.m. PST |
Australia considered the Mistral design when they were first in the market for amphibs. They went for the decent option instead. |
Jcfrog | 29 Apr 2015 7:16 a.m. PST |
Not the cleverest move but considering the pressure not to sell. Selling them elsewhere will entice additional costs as the vessels feature Russian stuff inside to be re changed. Officially it was a private sale. The yard "belongs" to a Korean company. |
Barin1 | 29 Apr 2015 7:34 a.m. PST |
Most of the current defence ministry officials were against these ships anyway…I've heard that they were not designed to operate below -6C ambient T. Mistrals were a part of our previous defence minister ideas. As Putin said that we want only the price of the contract and actual costs of the equipment we've supplied for the vessels, and not multimillion possible penalties and fines, I guess Hollande owns something to Russsia now…I wonder what it is exactly. |
cwlinsj | 29 Apr 2015 8:27 a.m. PST |
I'd also like to add that the Russians are actually relieved at not having to pay for these Mistrals with money that they dont have. |
Visceral Impact Studios | 29 Apr 2015 8:47 a.m. PST |
"" The U.S. recovery has been good for those of us at the top. Those in the middle and working class are not doing so well. And I think you're confusing an uneven economic recovery with deficit spending. Two different things. Our military-industrial-congressional complex is charging hard this week to continue its budget-busting spending spree with its creative accounting practices. This week they're adding billions in routine operational costs to the "off budget" war accounts to hide their deficit spending. |
Jcfrog | 29 Apr 2015 8:48 a.m. PST |
And these ships were built like HMS Ocean on many civilian specs. People forgot the stories of these LST that burnt too well in the Falklands. I would not want to be in such a ship in a shooting war. |
Barin1 | 29 Apr 2015 9:55 a.m. PST |
cwlinsj, actually Russia has paid most of the contract sum for the Mistrals, and invested in manufacturing of some hull components and elctronic systems. 10% was to be paid after guarantee tests, that are not going to happen now, so France will have to return all prepayment and price of the components, delivered by Russian enterprises. |
Weasel | 29 Apr 2015 11:24 p.m. PST |
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Cacique Caribe | 30 Apr 2015 12:04 a.m. PST |
If they want Russian minstrels that bad …
link … and are willing to pay them fair wages, why not? Dan |
Visceral Impact Studios | 30 Apr 2015 4:59 a.m. PST |
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