2016-02-12 According to an article published by our partner defenceWeb, Egypt is to receive both Mistral class ships later this year.
The Egyptian Navy will take delivery of its two Mistral class landing helicopter dock (LHD) vessels in June and September this year from French shipyard DCNS.
According to AFP, citing an unnamed source, the two Mistral class LHDs will be delivered to the Egyptian Navy in June and September respectively. Contacted by Navy Recognition a DCNS representative would not comment on the delivery dates but explained Egyptian sailors will be in France by the end of March to achieve their formation.
The French presidency just announced that Egypt will acquire the two Mistral LHDs originally intended for Russia. “President of the French Republic met with the President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. They agreed on the principles and terms of the purchase by Egypt of two Mistral class amphibious vessels” according to an official statement by the French presidency.
In early August 2015, France and Russia reached an agreement for the non-delivery of the two Mistral class LHDs originally ordered in June 2011. It was officially announced in September 2015 that Egypt would acquire the two Mistral LHDs originally intended for Russia.
The Egyptian Navy took delivery a FREMM Frigate from French shipyard DCNS last year. Moreover, a year ago, DCNS won a contract to supply the Egyptian Navy with four Gowind corvettes. Slated in 2017, the delivery of the first corvette, which is developed and realized at the DCNS Shipyard in Lorient, will occur less than four years after the signature of the contract. DCNS started cutting metal for the very first unit on April 16th 2015.
Mistral class vessels are capable of carrying 16 helicopters, four landing craft, 70 armoured vehicles and 450 soldiers.
Although there apparently are still some technical details to work out, the resale contract and adapting old projection and command of Russian to Egypt is on track. For this it was necessary for Cairo to ensure payment of the order, which is “ruby set on the nail,” the French defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian said in January.
While the adaptation work of former PCB Vladivostok and Sevastopol are in progress, the second is in dry dock in Saint-Nazaire for a refit prior to her return to sea.
A hundred and eight Egyptian sailors will come to Saint-Nazaire to take over the vessels with the assistance of DCNS and STX France and DCI Navfco for tactical training. The first Egyptians should already be in the Loire estuary. They will form the implementation crews for four CTM type landing craft and two fast catamarans NG type L-CAT.
Delivery of the first Egyptian PCB is planned for early summer, before joining her sister ship to Alexandria three months later.