NEWTOWN, Conn. - Construction of a second Mistral-class amphibious assault vessel for the Russian Navy is underway in France. According to a military diplomat, construction began at the Saint-Nazaire shipyard on June 18.
"The keel laying ceremony has taken place at the French Saint-Nazaire shipyards. The second Mistral helicopter carrier will be built for the Russian Defense Ministry," the diplomat said.
Under a contract signed in June 2011, France is building two Mistral-class vessels for Russia. Russia's Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg will build 24 sections, or about 40 percent of the hull components for the first two vessels. The parts will then be delivered to France for final assembly. Under a separate contract, Russia plans to build another two vessels in the class through the technology transfer portion of the first contract. However, no decisions have been made regarding the third and fourth vessels, and it is uncertain if they will, in fact, be built.
Work on the first ship in the class, the Vladivostok, began in 2012, and the first bow section was placed into a dry dock on February 1, 2013. The vessel is expected to join the Russian Navy in 2014. The second in the class, the Sevastopol, is now slated to join Russia's Black Sea Fleet in 2017.
