France Ready To Transfer Warship Technology to Russia: PM

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on a visit to Moscow on Thursday that France was ready to transfer military technology if it won a tender to supply Russia with Mistral warships.

  "There is no question about the technology transfer, no problem regarding technology transfers," Fillon said at a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Russia had been in exclusive talks with France to buy two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships but in August the defence ministry announced an international tender.

Putin stressed that the price and the possibility of technology transfer to allow Russia to subsequently learn to build its own warships of the same class, would be key criteria in Russia's choice.




"The price is important. Russia is also interested in technology transfers. This is important for our ship building," Putin said.

Fillon complained jokingly that Putin was a hard bargainer in price negotiations.


"We are discussing the price and Vladimir Putin is not the easiest person to talk to about this question," he said.

Over several months, talks with Moscow have stalled on the question of technology transfer.

France has been negotiating with Russia since 2009 on a possible deal to sell Moscow the Mistral, a powerful warship capable of carrying helicopters and tanks, costing around 500 million euros.

If agreed, the deal would be the first sale to Russia of such technology by a NATO country and France's NATO allies have expressed concern about arming Russia with modern Western weaponry.


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Russia To Pay $2Billion For French Mistral Warships

Russia will pay France 1.37 billion euros ($1.81 billion) for two Mistral-class assault warships that Moscow agreed to purchase from the NATO member last week, news reports said Dec. 30.

“The first ship will cost 720 million euros and the second 650 million euros,” the RIA Novosti news agencies cited a source close to the negotiations as saying.

The deal, which involves joint construction of the vessels, is the first sale to Russia of such naval high-tech by a NATO country.

It has been condemned by Alliance members from the three Baltic nations, with leaked cables showing that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates also raised the issue while on a visit to Paris this year.

The helicopter carrier costs about 500 million euros ($650 million) and it was not immediately clear why Russia was paying a premium.

Moscow had sought to purchase the craft together with their sensitive equipment and the December 24 announcement in Paris made no mention of whether Russia had got its way.

The source close to the negotiation said Moscow was paying a higher price for the first craft because most of it would be produced in France, with Russia’s share in the project growing by the second vessel.

“If Russia’s share of construction on the first ship is 20 percent, it may reach up to 40 percent for the second ship,” the source told RIA Novosti.

The source said the third and fourth ships would be fully manufactured in Russia as per agreement, but gave no time frame of when the craft would be built.

A Mistral-class ship can carry up to 16 helicopters, four landing craft, 13 battle tanks, around 100 other vehicles and a 450-strong force. It has facilities for a full command staff and is equipped with a 69-bed hospital.

Russia To Buy Two French Mistral-Class Warships

Russia has confirmed that it will buy at least two Mistral-class warships from a French-led consortium.

Correspondents say the sale will be the first to Russia by a Nato country of such sophisticated naval equipment.

The prospect of a deal has raised concerns among France's Nato allies.

The deal was originally agreed in July but stalled a month later over how much technology France was prepared to share, and the order was put out to international tender.

The Russian and French authorities said Moscow had chosen the consortium of France's DCNS and STX and Russian naval yard OSK, although shipbuilders in Spain and the Netherlands had also been looked at.

"Their offer initially covers the joint construction of two of this kind of vessel, which should be extended by the construction of two more," French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said in a statement.

Mistral-class amphibious assault ships can carry up to 16 helicopters, four landing craft and a 750-strong landing force, and is equipped with a 69-bed hospital.

The deal has caused unease in other Nato countries, especially the United States, as well as some of Russia's immediate neighbours and the Baltic states.

In February a US official told reporters the US "had questions" for France about the order.