Mistral News thread

macedonian wrote:

Zivo wrote:US lawmakers urge France to sell Mistral warships to NATO, not Russia

http://rt.com/news/162412-france-warships-sale-russia/

I doubt that will happen, but it certainly will deter Russia from further NATO-state purchases.

Not only Russia, the French will have problems selling weapons to anyone outside NATO (or US satellite states). Even if the deal goes through in the end, with all this talk of canceling the contract under American pressure potential clients will be wary of making a deal with France.

Such is the life of a puppet state.
The once proud French nation under de Gaulle is now a shadow of what it used to be.
In the not so distant future the guillotine might make a reappearance, and I'd be very afraid if I was Hollande or Sarcozy...  

Corrected  

​France to deliver Mistral ships to Russia, if no new EU sanctions introduced
Two French Mistral aircraft carriers will be delivered to Russia on time, if no further sanctions are introduced by the EU against Moscow, French President Francois Hollande said. “France will fulfill its contract obligations and sees no obstacles for delivering the warships on time,” Hollande said in Brussels. “The situation will be certainly different…, if European sanctions are imposed [against Russia],” Itar Tass quotes. Under the contract, Russia is to receive the first of the two warships in October this year.

source: RT.com

Baltic Shipyard ships second Mistral’s stern to France
It will take almost three weeks for the stern of the ship named Sevastopol to reach Saint-Nazaire in France, United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) spokesperson says

TASS wrote:ST. PETERSBURG, June 26. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s Baltic Shipyard on Thursday, June 26, shipped the stern of the second Mistral-type landing ship to France for assembly.

The shipment was initially scheduled for early July. “This means that the Baltic Shipyard has fulfilled all of its obligations to the customer - the STX France shipyard by preparing the stern of the second Russian Mistral for shipment within the time period provided for in the contract,” United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) spokesperson Alexei Kravchenko said.

whole thing @ "TASS"

fragmachine wrote:​France to deliver Mistral ships to Russia, if no new EU sanctions introduced
Two French Mistral aircraft carriers will be delivered to Russia on time, if no further sanctions are introduced by the EU against Moscow, French President Francois Hollande said. “France will fulfill its contract obligations and sees no obstacles for delivering the warships on time,” Hollande said in Brussels. “The situation will be certainly different…, if European sanctions are imposed [against Russia],” Itar Tass quotes. Under the contract, Russia is to receive the first of the two warships in October this year.

source: RT.com

This is how U.S.. control  The European Union.. including France.. and force them to do as they are told..

From RT today..

US Justice Dept to announce near-$9bn fine for France’s BNP –
reports The US Justice Department is expected to unveil on Monday a settlement with BNP Paribas involving a record fine of nearly $9 billion, Reuters said. The fine comes over alleged US sanctions violations by France’s biggest bank, sources said. The penalties may also include a temporary ban on some dollar-clearing business and could hit BNP’s dividend payout, regulatory capital ratios and its investment banking targets, analysts say. BNP is expected to plead guilty to a criminal charge in Manhattan Federal Court on Monday."

So basically This is how The Exceptional US rogue state use the US banking system ,to blackmail their European allies through extortion and sabotage to their economies using fabricated charges.. In the case of Germany they
are pretty much owned because they have 370 million tons of Gold in US banks in New York.. and they invent any excuse to not give back their Gold ,that is not ready for the transfer.   That said..if the Neocons really wants something from Europe ,they can get it ,by extortion and sabotage to their economies.

So France have the option to back down the Mistral deal in order to get the fine to their banks forgiven or they can go ahead with the mistral and risk losing a lot more through extortion. The US in alliance with jewish bankers is a mafia terrorist state that surpass any other criminal organization in the world ever created,and if the Europeans do not wake up now and do not stand against the Neocons mafia and rebel ,they will wake up one day ,
with US homeland security heavily armed police at their doors ,across all europe replacing their own authority and nation sovereingnity . THis is what is all about US foreign Policy,which is controlled by jews banking elite ,that is creating a one World  banking system with one world Government all controlled by them. And thats the reason why
the west is at war with Russia.  They are the only ones that stand in the way against the american-jewish Fascist world empire.

So the mistral sale is obvious France is highly interested on it ,however the retaliation of US to France economy can be bigger through the Jewish Elite Banks. When France is saying that they could cancel the sale if the EU do more sanctions.. is because they are trying to get all EU in the same boat. So they saying if we will be doomed ,then all the EU will have to be doomed too..means the ball is on the side of the white house and they only will need to pressure all EU ,with major economic sanctions against Russia , and that france is saying they do not want to be alone with US retaliation  to their economy so is forcing US to retaliate all EU with sabotage to their economies too ,if they want to sanction Russia.  

So is indeed very interesting the developments happening between US -EU and Russia.. because the Ukraine conflict that was provoked by US congress, perfectly illustrate to the EU what they are ,colonies of US and will have them thinking about if they want to continue being slaves of US with a very hostile relation based on extortion or if they will fight back.  Austria is already is on full rebellion , they signed the southstream regardless of US pressure and will go ahead with south stream pipeline no matter what the US state department says to their EU colonies.

It remains to be see if France,Germany and the EU will rebel too.So things to carefully pay attention is to the
South Stream pipeline and Mistral sale. if both projects go ahead regardless of the white house and US congress and Senate rage then it will be a major blow in the face to Obama administration and US elite banking system.The fight to defend their interest and not americans ones is at full scale in EU,so is going to be very interesting.  
believe it or not there is an Intense fight behind the scenes of Pressure to the EU to stop trading with Russia
something that will bankrupt their economies if Russia leave and or retaliate because they import a lot from them.

On another note Russia is already near signing another Energy deal with China  
For 30 Billion Cubic Meter natural gas per year for 30 years for the western part.. the contract should be close to US $400 billions. so thats about $800 billions contract for gas with China alone. And India is already saying is ready for an extension of that second China pipeline to extend all the way to their territory. that should be close to $400 billions too. from US $ 1 - 1.2 trillions ,Russia will be making contracts.  This means that in the next decade Russia pretty much will be fully Independent nation of the EU and will have nothing to worry about any US blackmailing of EU.And and will be filthy rich . Because Asia is highly undeveloped and the energy consumption can only go up with the development of EuroAsian nations. China own numbers estimate their Gas consumption with near tripe in just 10 years. So expect more mega sales of energy.

Vann7 wrote:

fragmachine wrote:​France to deliver Mistral ships to Russia, if no new EU sanctions introduced
Two French Mistral aircraft carriers will be delivered to Russia on time, if no further sanctions are introduced by the EU against Moscow, French President Francois Hollande said. “France will fulfill its contract obligations and sees no obstacles for delivering the warships on time,” Hollande said in Brussels. “The situation will be certainly different…, if European sanctions are imposed [against Russia],” Itar Tass quotes. Under the contract, Russia is to receive the first of the two warships in October this year.

source: RT.com

This is how U.S.. control  The European Union.. including France.. and force them to do as they are told..

From RT today..

US Justice Dept to announce near-$9bn fine for France’s BNP –
reports The US Justice Department is expected to unveil on Monday a settlement with BNP Paribas involving a record fine of nearly $9 billion, Reuters said. The fine comes over alleged US sanctions violations by France’s biggest bank, sources said. The penalties may also include a temporary ban on some dollar-clearing business and could hit BNP’s dividend payout, regulatory capital ratios and its investment banking targets, analysts say. BNP is expected to plead guilty to a criminal charge in Manhattan Federal Court on Monday."

So basically This is how The Exceptional US rogue state use the US banking system ,to blackmail their European allies through extortion and sabotage to their economies using fabricated charges.. In the case of Germany they
are pretty much owned because they have 370 million tons of Gold in US banks in New York.. and they invent any excuse to not give back their Gold ,that is not ready for the transfer.   That said..if the Neocons really wants something from Europe ,they can get it ,by extortion and sabotage to their economies.

So France have the option to back down the Mistral deal in order to get the fine to their banks forgiven or they can go ahead with the mistral and risk losing a lot more through extortion. The US in alliance with jewish bankers is a mafia terrorist state that surpass any other criminal organization in the world ever created,and if the Europeans do not wake up now and do not stand against the Neocons mafia and rebel ,they will wake up one day ,
with US homeland security heavily armed police at their doors ,across all europe replacing their own authority and nation sovereingnity . THis is what is all about US foreign Policy,which is controlled by jews banking elite ,that is creating a one World  banking system with one world Government all controlled by them. And thats the reason why
the west is at war with Russia.  They are the only ones that stand in the way against the american-jewish Fascist world empire.

So the mistral sale is obvious France is highly interested on it ,however the retaliation of US to France economy can be bigger through the Jewish Elite Banks. When France is saying that they could cancel the sale if the EU do more sanctions.. is because they are trying to get all EU in the same boat. So they saying if we will be doomed ,then all the EU will have to be doomed too..means the ball is on the side of the white house and they only will need to pressure all EU ,with major economic sanctions against Russia , and that france is saying they do not want to be alone with US retaliation  to their economy so is forcing US to retaliate all EU with sabotage to their economies too ,if they want to sanction Russia.  

So is indeed very interesting the developments happening between US -EU and Russia.. because the Ukraine conflict that was provoked by US congress, perfectly illustrate to the EU what they are ,colonies of US and will have them thinking about if they want to continue being slaves of US with a very hostile relation based on extortion or if they will fight back.  Austria is already is on full rebellion , they signed the southstream regardless of US pressure and will go ahead with south stream pipeline no matter what the US state department says to their EU colonies.

It remains to be see if France,Germany and the EU will rebel too.So things to carefully pay attention is to the
South Stream pipeline and Mistral sale. if both projects go ahead regardless of the white house and US congress and Senate rage then it will be a major blow in the face to Obama administration and US elite banking system.The fight to defend their interest and not americans ones is at full scale in EU,so is going to be very interesting.  
believe it or not there is an Intense fight behind the scenes of Pressure to the EU to stop trading with Russia
something that will bankrupt their economies if Russia leave and or retaliate because they import a lot from them.

On another note Russia is already near signing another Energy deal with China  
For 30 Billion Cubic Meter natural gas per year for 30 years for the western part.. the contract should be close to US $400 billions. so thats about $800 billions contract for gas with China alone. And India is already saying is ready for an extension of that second China pipeline to extend all the way to their territory. that should be close to $400 billions too. from US $ 1 - 1.2 trillions ,Russia will be making contracts.  This means that in the next decade Russia pretty much will be fully Independent nation of the EU and will have nothing to worry about any US blackmailing of EU.And and will be filthy rich . Because Asia is highly undeveloped and the energy consumption can only go up with the development of EuroAsian nations. China own numbers estimate their Gas consumption with near tripe in just 10 years. So expect more mega sales of energy.

Interesting article. However we look, EU is ******. If they impose sanctions against Russia, they are ****** heavily, if not, US will impose sanctions on them with different penalties. Some states already see the trap US impose to EU and as I know, Germany and UK already agree that their banks will trade with China in Yuans and I think they will also quietly trade with Russia in Yuans, Rubles, Euros and Pounds maybe even through Chinese banks to avoid US measures against them. It is better for them to ignore sanctions against Russia and keep steady flow of Russian oil and gas and metals, than loosing it as well as ME oil and gas, because of big ME war, which will follow after creating of Islamic Caliphate. Russia is not that dependent on EU as they could sell pil and gas to other markets not only through pipelines, but also through oil and gas sea terminals. In France National Front and Marine Le Pen support the sale of Mistrals to Russia, so in the worst case they should just wait that Le Pen become French president and than France will deliver their ships.

If the sale happens , Putin told he will have plans to add more orders.. Will be nice if Russia buys
2 more Mistral ,or 2 of the ones Spain makes , just to annoy NATO and travel to US coast with them ,showing
the warships in the neocons faces to make them angry of their sanctions failing against Russia.. lol

June 30, 2014. Channel "1 TV". France, Saint-Nazaire. About four hundred Russian sailors arrived in western France on Monday for training on Mistral amphibious assault ships before the first of two is delivered to Moscow by the end of the year.

More about politics and the mistral sale.. and the Economic battle happening US and Russia.

Putin told today...
"We know about the pressure that our American partners put on the French so that they would not deliver the Mistral [ships] to Russia,” Putin said. “And we know that [they] hinted that if the French don't deliver Mistral, sanctions on banks will be gradually removed, or at least minimized. What is this, if not blackmail?"

http://rt.com/news/169628-putin-ukraine-west-barracks/


This shows what i was suspecting the connection between the mistral sale ,something signed in 2011
and the recent American Banks historical high fine to frenchs banks of US $10 billions. The mistral sale could
be blocked if Europe commit suicide on their economy and sanction Russia energy business. This will be similar to byte a hand that feeds you.   But you never know ,it could happen ,the EU really is caught by the balls and can
only liberate from its colonial status if everyone stand together and say no thanks.

I was against the buy of the Mistrals.. but now i support Russia buying 2 more.. and the ordering Spanish ship Juan Carlos I from spain and later celebrate with fireworks when they get them.. Just to annoy those the US senate and other warmongers.  

 

EU third level of sanctions can hamper Mistral supplies to Russia - defence minister

Austin wrote:EU third level of sanctions can hamper Mistral supplies to Russia - defence minister

The baltic states are colonies of US no surprise ,they ask to stop the sale.

I really hope France cancel the mistral sale , so that Russia saves the money from 2-4 mistral warships and build , one modern stealth nuclear Cruiser to replace with everything new.. with S-500 defenses and Kalibr missiles and 4-5 pads for KA-52 helicopters . Will be far better and will significantly Boost Russia defense and offense capabilities since Russia don't need the Mistral at all. They never go to wars away of RUssia with thousands of soldiers
which is the whole point of the amphibious assault ship and i don't think they will ever do it.

But in my opinion , France if they wanted to cancel it ,they will have done it long time ago and sell it to NATO ,as they offered to buy it. Buying such warship will be a big risk for Russia security too.. could be filled with spy devices inside and sensors to make it easy to any Torpedo or Missile to find it.

Stealth cruiser?

Where will the engine for that come from?

It will take a couple of years before Saturn is producing new quality naval engines so ship production can get into full swing, so buying Mistral from France is pretty important.

BTW you have it the wrong way around... not having Mistrals in the past does not mean they do not need them now. Of course they don't NEED anything at all, but the MIstrals will bring capabilities they have never had before and will make them rather more capable and flexible than they have ever been before.

they will be checked for bugs and trojan horses... only one vessel will be fitted with the French naval systems, the others will use Sigma and Russian naval electronics.

the all French model will operate in the far east against the Japanese and US in the Pacific and a rather long way from France.

GarryB wrote:Stealth cruiser?

Where will the engine for that come from?.

Im sure Russia have the capabilities to produce a very powerful engine.. for a modern cruiser. Their ICE breakers have nuclear powered engines and they move very large Ships.. with very heavy weight..  All that have been stopping  Russia to make a Cruiser or Kirov 2 is funding and not talent and perhaps their ship builders being busy with other orders. I really think Russia have the capabilities to build such warship. If CHINA can make an aircraft carrier , that Russia build a cruiser is nothing. Is not rocket science..

Is not like the weapons are brand new.. all the weapons Russia need ,the core technology for a powerful warship already have been done. S-500s , S_400s ,Kalibers , Brahmos-2,Naval Iskanders? Aesa radars?

The only thing they need is to build naval versions of those weapons and a powerful engine for a big warship.
Since the warship will be Cruiser ,they will have flexibility at the time of making space for the weapons and they will not need to reinvent the wheel either.

You Misunderstand... I am not saying they can't make one, I am saying with most of their naval diesel engines being made in the Ukraine their engine makers need to develop their own new engines, which will take time.

You make it sound like they could have the Mistral deal cancelled on them and have a new stealth cruiser in service within 2-3 years... if we are talking about an upgraded Kirov class then it would be more like 4-5 years at least and a from scratch heavy cruiser more like 8-10 years... in the mean time they could better spend their time building Frigates, Corvettes, and destroyers, plus the odd support vessel too.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/2nd-mistral-warship-set-for-mediterranean-role/504117.html

Mistral class to become flagship of the Mediterranean fleet.  

Mistral Base in Russia’s Far East to be Built by Fall 2015

MOSCOW, July 26 (RIA Novosti) – The construction of a Mistral-class carriers base in Russia’s Far East port of Vladivostok will be completed by next year’s fall, a senior Defense Ministry official said on Saturday.

“This will be an entire complex with permanent garrisons, units of service support and fueling. We will complete the construction next fall and will inform the president,” Roman Filimonov, the head of the Defense Ministry’s construction department, told Russian News Service (RSN) radio.

Earlier this week, the US State Department has once again criticized France for sticking to the Mistral contract. UK Prime Minister David Cameron also criticized Paris sharply for its plans to sell Mistral ships to Russia and called the deal “unthinkable.”

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Tuesday, that Paris doesn’t call into question compliance with its obligations under the Mistral helicopter carriers deal signed with Russia.

Russia and France signed a $1.6 billion deal for two Mistral-class helicopter carriers in June 2011.

Under the contract, the first ship, the Vladivostok, is to be delivered to Russia by the end of the year, while the second, the Sevastopol, is due in 2015.

The vessels are capable of carrying 16 helicopters, four landing craft, 70 armored vehicles and 450 soldiers each, and are expected to be deployed with Russia’s Pacific Fleet.

First Mistral to be commissioned as scheduled in 2015

MOSCOW, July 28 /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s United Shipbuilding Company will transfer the first Mistral ship to the Navy in 2015, as scheduled, USC President Alexei Rakhmanov said on Monday.

“We have the contract deadlines; after that, the finishing and installation of weapons and means of communications. This will be done at our own shipyards… All this work is in the schedule,” he told the Ekho Moskvy radio.

“We acted as shipbuilders. We built the hull and completed all work, the stern, on time,” Rakhmanov said.

He believes that France will not give up its obligations under the Mistral contract with Russia. “The French are very good at counting money. They won’t hurt themselves. There is an international obligation. Any sanctions are a way to bypass some principles of free trade and bargain for some additional advantages,” the official said,

French President Francois Hollande said France would fulfill its obligations to build the first Mistral ship and hand it over to Russia as scheduled.

He said there could be no question of failing to deliver. “Russia has paid,” he said, adding that otherwise France would have to pay a fine of 1.1 billion euros.

Washington earlier advised Paris to suspend the deal with Russia. U.S. President Barack Obama voiced his concern about it in Brussels and raised this issue again at a meeting with Hollande in Paris in early June.

However Hollande said the contract to build Mistral-type ships for Russia was being implemented as scheduled and would be fulfilled in October of this year.

The contract signed in 2011 has not been revised and its implementation will be completed in October, Hollande said.

Under the contract, each Mistral ship has to be built by France within 36 months. The first of them, the Vladivostok, is to arrive in St. Petersburg from Saint-Nazaire, France, in December 2014. In St. Petersburg it will be equipped with Russian weapons, military hardware and systems. After that and the crew training, the Vladivostok will sail off to its base in the Pacific Fleet.

The second ship, the Sevastopol, will arrive in St. Petersburg in November 2015 to make a voyage to the Pacific Fleet and join it in the second half of 2016.

The crews for the two ships (each consisting of 177 members) and 60 instructors, who will subsequently help the sailors operate the ships, are being trained by French specialists. The first stage of training began in February of this year … and continued until the end of May. The second stage will take place from June until October in Saint-Nazaire both onshore and onboard the Vladivostok. The cost of training is included in the contract, the spokesperson said.

Apart from these two ships, Russia has also purchased French technology for the combat information control and communications systems.

Infrastructure for the Vladivostok and the Sevastopol will be built by the end of September 2015. Their base will be completed in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok by the end of December 2017.

On Russia’s insistence, the design of the ships has been changed to make them capable of sailing in northern altitudes and ice-covered seas, increase their dimensions to carry large Ka-28 and Ka-52K helicopters, and to install additional weapons as such air defence systems, rapid-fire artillery guns and large-calibre automatic systems to repel attacks from sea. This will allow the ships to go on missions with fewer escort vessels in tow.

Two Mistral-type ships are now under construction at Saint-Nazaire, France, and St. Petersburg, Russia. A possible purchase by Russia of two more ships from France will be considered based on the performance results of the first two. The shipyard is to build 90% of each of the ships and then they will be floated off to be taken to Toulon for completion.

Russian enterprises are also involved in the project. The Baltic Shipyard laid down the keel of one of the two Mistral ships, named Vladivostok, in strict compliance with the approved schedule. A similar ceremony for the second ship named Sevastopol took place in May 2013.

Mistral landing helicopter carriers will perform four tasks at the same time: receive helicopters, land troops, act as a command post and a floating hospital.

Each ship will carry a group of 16 helicopters. Six of them can be deployed on the flight-deck at the same time. The cargo deck can accommodate more than 40 tanks or 70 motor vehicles.

Russia is buying the French helicopter carrier Mistral with French equipment, including combat navigation devices, but will arm it with its own weaponry. The Mistral ships will carry upgraded Russian Ka-32 Alligator attack helicopters.

http://en.ria.ru/news/20140730/191483499/Russia-Could-Build-Mistral-Class-Ships-on-Its-Own--Rogozin.html

Why not build another two yourself after the sevastopol and vladivostok?

Flyingdutchman wrote:http://en.ria.ru/news/20140730/191483499/Russia-Could-Build-Mistral-Class-Ships-on-Its-Own--Rogozin.html

Why not build another two yourself after the sevastopol and vladivostok?

They may, they may not. The main reason they wouldn't build extra Mistral's would probably be the time it takes, resources used, and the cost. Plus, helicopter carriers are great and all, but I'd rather see Russia working on aircraft carriers instead. They don't need a ton of them, but at least a couple more than what they have. Unless Russia begins to build VTOL aircraft (again), continuing the production of the Mistral's seems pointless (Ok, not really, but you get my point.)

I'd rather see Some carriers aswell.

It would be great if they could build both. However, that becomes a question of feasibility.

If they could start producing (good) VTOL aircraft, there would be less of a need for real aircraft carriers.

Actually I think VSTOL aircraft are pointless wastes of time.

the money you save by making a 25K ton ship instead of a 40-60K ton ship you also lose in outright performance of the aircraft...

I rather suspect the Russians will operate the two Mistrals for a bit and decide how useful they are or they could be.

Basing a Mistral in the Med suggests it might be based in the Crimea... wont that be a poke in the eye of NATO...

Russia's Mistral Warships Won't Have French Weapons

A Russian defense official said two French-built Mistral-class warships on order for the Russian navy will be retrofitted with Russian weapons systems after their delivery, signaling that Western sanctions against Russia may have succeeded in scaling back the military technology transfer proposed in the Mistral sale deal.

"The construction of the Vladivostok [the second Mistral ship] is being completed. … She will be retrofitted with Russian-made weapons at port [in St. Petersburg]," Igor Sevastyano, a spokesman for Russia's state arms import and export agency was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying Wednesday at an arms expo outside Moscow.

France's 2011 deal to supply Russia with two Mistral assault ships was part of a 1.2 billion euro ($1.6 million) technology transfer agreement. Officials have remained coy about exactly what cutting edge French technology would be supplied along with the ships, but the expectation was that the deal would be a major boost to Russia's technical military expertise.

But since Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March, the West has been expanding sanctions against Russia. In July, the country's defense industry was hit by an EU arms embargo. While stopping short of actually prohibiting the delivery of the ships and transfer of related shipbuilding technologies, this appears to have nixed the possibility of the warships from being outfitted with advanced French gear.

The first of the two warships, the Sevastopol, has already been launched and is undergoing final preparations for its delivery to the Russian navy later this year, while its sister ship, the Vladivostok, is not expected to be delivered until November 2015.

Washington and several of its NATO allies have pressured Paris to ax the deal, which Western leaders believe will enable potential Russian military aggression against NATO member states and pro-Western post-Soviet states near the Black Sea.

France, for whom the loss of the contract would be a major economic blow, has resisted pressure to withhold delivery of the first Mistral. French President Francois Hollande said in July the decision to follow through on the second vessel would "depend on Russia's attitude," referring to Moscow's support of separatists in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reported.

If everything goes according to plan and Moscow receives its new warships, the vessels will begin their induction into the Russian navy by stopping off at St. Petersburg's Northern Wharf shipyard to receive a full complement of Russian-made weapons systems.

Russian sailors are currently training on how to operate the warships, which are unlike anything else currently serving in the Russian navy. Although one Soviet-era aircraft carrier remains in service, it is plagued by technical troubles. The Mistral-class amphibious assault helicopter carriers are significantly more advanced in the areas of command and control systems, as well as communications.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/505059.html

And what kind of French Weapons onboard Mistral except Mistral launchers ?

The French weapons on board were quite frankly pathetic... from memory the standard load out was twin mistral launchers and about 4 x 50 cal HMGs... a joke really.

I think the Mistral deal was mostly done because..

1)They had busy all their builders facilities ,and will have been more expensive to build one ,since it
will have required to build new naval facilities and start a new design and build from scratch everything.
Will have been far more expensive to build it themselves and slower is is done from zero.

2)Will allow Russian Engineers to learn how France do their warships ,and learn new ways to build modern warships
that will significantly enhance their knowledge on building warships in a more elegant and modern stylish way.  I will have preffered however the Spain transport ship is far nicer looking and allow vertical landing planes too ,in case Russia in the future build them.

IF france cancel the deal.. it will not matter for Russia ,because their Engineers already saw the whole thing how France do it.. so will be far easier now for Russia to do it themselves ,without having to reinvent the wheel . But as a bonus Russia could the mistral much better ,with the capability to operate in the north Pole ,break ICE and even carry weapons.

What will be nice for Russia to do is an aircraft carrier that can operate as submarine too.. That is Submarine First and warship second.. and travel under water most of the time ,but when some plane needs to take off ,the aircraft -sub carrier surface.. also will be nice if the aircraft carrier can hold inside any Borei or Yasen Submarines and give light service , clean or light repairs refuel food and change the crew for a totally new one. That way the aircraft carrier becomes like a mobile naval Port too. and finally will be very useful for Russia if the aircraft carrier can carry S-500 and S-400 defenses.