ST. PETERSBURG — A cutting-edge French warship sailed into St. Petersburg on Monday to show off its capabilities to potential buyers in the Navy, whose pursuit of an amphibious assault capacity is frightening some neighboring countries.
The country’s once-mighty Navy was severely degraded after the fall of the Soviet Union and it currently has no big ship with the power to anchor in coastal waters and deploy troops onto land.
Russian officials said this year that they were planning to make their first arms deal with a NATO country by buying a French vessel like the Mistral, a 21,500-metric ton, 299-meter vessel able carry more than a dozen helicopters that can haul hundreds of troops directly onto enemy territory.
The head of the Navy has said a Mistral-class vessel could put as many troops in Georgia in 40 minutes as the Black Sea Fleet took 26 hours to land during the countries’ August 2008 war.
The Mistral docked Monday on the Neva River, about half a kilometer from the Hermitage museum. Russian media reported that the French and Russian navies were planning joint exercises with the ship this week.
Russian media reports have said a Mistral-class ship would cost Russia up to 500 million euros ($750 million). Officials in Moscow have expressed interest in buying licenses to build several more in Russia, although critics say they are unneeded.
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