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Photo: Mistral class assault landing ship.
One of WikiLeaks-disclosed reports of American diplomatic mission in France cites a French top-ranking official saying that Mistral carrier which is about to be sold to Russia is anything but a high-grade sample of naval engineering and constitutes a combination of "a cargo ship and an oil tanker" equipped with some useful navigational aids.
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WikiLeaks: Mistral is something between a cargo ship and a tanker
12/09/2010 |
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Mistral sale will not substantially change combat capabilities of Russia, said the French diplomat. He pointed out that Russian leaders exaggerate military significance of Mistral class ships just to reduce interior opposition against arms import.
Also, the representative of French foreign ministry emphasized that Mistral class ships were not equipped with hi-tech sensitive detection facilities.
Meeting with his French counterpart Herve Morin early in Feb 2010, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates expressed concerns about Mistral ships sale to Russia. According to a telegram revealed by WikiLeaks, Morin replied that one ship would not strengthen Russia's military potential as defense shipbuilding had been seriously degraded in Russia.