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.

French army expects first A400M airlifter by July 14

The French army hopes to receive its first Airbus A400M military transport aircraft in time for the country's annual Bastille Day celebrations on July 14, a Defence Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

The aircraft, which is about five years behind the original schedule, is also expected to win certification for military use in time for the biennial Paris Air Show starting on June 17, Pierre Bayle said.

The head of EADS unit Airbus Military, Domingo Urena-Raso, confirmed that this timetable was "absolutely reasonable," adding that he expected a total of four deliveries this year, 10 next year and 21 the following year.

France will be the first of the seven nations behind the 20 billion euro ($25.7 billion) project to take delivery of the European military transport and heavy cargo plane. Germany is due to receive its first A400M at the end of 2014.

France has ordered 50 of the planes, and Germany 53. The other countries involved are Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and Britain.

"Delivery before July 14 would enable a French crew to pilot the French plane above the parade," Bayle said, referring to the traditional Bastille Day military procession.

Airbus Military had said earlier this year it expected to deliver the first of the airlifters to France in the second quarter.

The four turboprop-engine A400M can carry a helicopter, two armoured vehicles or 116 paratroopers. It can land on short, gravel airstrips, making it suitable for transporting troops and equipment to theatres such as Mali or Afghanistan.

The plane has been hit by delays and billions of euros of cost overruns that led to a multinational bailout.

"The A400M got off to a bit of a bumpy start, to say the least, but it's making good progress," Urena-Raso said, adding that there were "no signs" that any of the nations planned to reduce their orders.

He said he hoped the aircraft would fly at the Paris Air Show, adding it had been performing very well in test flights.

Mali - Forward to the Past

The cause of the rebellion in northern Mali (corrupt southern officials running the north in a corrupt and inept fashion) has not been dealt with. The Tuareg rebels still want autonomy (self-rule) and the black African majority (90 percent of the population) in the south does not want to allow it. But the Mali Army, dominated by black Africans, is still a corrupt bunch of ill-trained poorly equipped and ineptly led gunmen who tend to serve whoever pays them. This army is still incapable of defeating the MNLA (Tuareg rebels) and not sure if they can persuade the peacekeepers to do it for them.  The MNLA expects the July elections (the 7 ^th for the president the 21 ^st for parliament) to bring another group of corrupt southerners to power.

 

Fixing the corruption in the Mali government and military is seen as the solution to the problems with the Tuareg north. But that corruption, fueled by tribal ties and tradition, has proved extremely difficult to eliminate or even just tone down. One thing there is no shortage of in Mali is challenges.

Speaking of corruption, the decision by Chad to withdraw its 2,250 troops from Mali was, as many expected, just a negotiating ploy. Chad leaders want more money and no criticism if a lot of it disappears into their pockets. 

 

In Europe, Africa and the Middle East police are detecting, and increasingly arresting, Islamic terrorists who have fled Mali. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) had members from all over North Africa, but mostly from Algeria and while defeated in Mali it was not destroyed there. 

Hundreds of experienced Islamic terrorists have scattered and are reorganizing via email, cell phones and hand-carried documents. Recruiting has taken a hit, as the operations in Mali this year showed once more that Islamic radicals cannot stand up to professional soldiers and their governing methods tend to turn the population against them. This caused over a thousand AQIM members to desert, while nearly 500 were killed in the Mali fighting. Hundreds of local Islamic terrorists (Tuaregs and black Africans from countries in the region) have stayed in northern Mali and are carrying out a terrorism campaign. There are a few larger groups of these Islamic terrorists still wandering around the far north but they are being hunted by French aircraft and hit with smart bombs. Some of these Islamic terrorists have renounced their alliance with al Qaeda and are trying to evade attack by just being another group of Tuareg separatists. 

 

French troops continue to search for and attack Islamic terrorist groups in the north. French intelligence has identified dozens of camps and equipment storage sites al Qaeda constructed in the north during the last year and, in the far northern mountains near the Algerian border, over the last decade. France is using its warplanes and smart bombs to attack these bases and supply dumps. 

Sending in ground troops is a less attractive option because of the al Qaeda use of landmines and the possibility of ambush by nearby terrorists. The French troops can go in on foot, but there are more targets to be hit than there are infantry to hit all of them. It takes time and manpower to clear the mines. 

 

April 25, 2013:  The UN approved a Mali peacekeeping force of 12,600 soldiers and police. Most of the troops would be from Africa and include the 6,000 African peacekeepers already in Mali and at least a thousand French troops. 

 

April 24, 2013: The MNLA means (in French) “Liberation Army of Azawad” and the Mali government is upset that MNLA men control most of the rural (and very thinly populated) areas in the north. These rebels like to approve documents (like passes) with rubber stamps that say “State of Azawad”. That is the Tuareg term for their homeland in northern Mali. MNLA refuses to disarm but is willing to negotiate their role in the north. After invading in January France tolerated the MNLA as long as the rebels cooperated and did not fight the Mali army or government officials. Several hundred Tuareg Malian soldiers work directly for the French as scouts and translators. These men help the French determine which Tuareg rebels can be trusted and which are Islamic terrorists (usually members of MUJAO or Ansar Dine.) 

 

April 23, 2013: The French transferred responsibility for security to a battalion (650 troops) of peacekeepers from Burkina Faso. 

 

April 22, 2013:  France officially agreed to keep 2,000 troops in Mali through July and at least a thousand by the end of the year. 

 

April 21, 2013: MNLA (Tuareg rebels) took control of Ber, a town of 9,000 some 50 kilometers east of Timbuktu. The town had been taken over by an Islamic radical group that had arrived to protect Arabs living there. The Tuareg and Arabs are ethnically similar and sometimes unite against the black Africans who live in the north. But after months of harsh rule by Islamic terrorists, even the Tuareg are hostile to “Arabs” and locals will still try and drive them out. The only defenders of the local Arabs (who have often been there for generations) are the remaining Islamic radicals or the French troops. Local leaders in Ber called on the MNLA for help in keeping the peace. 

 

April 18, 2013: Mauritania has agreed to send 1,800 peacekeepers to Mali. Mauritanian troops are particularly valuable because they have years of experience chasing down Islamic terrorists and bandits in the desert. Mauritania borders Mali and sees this peacekeeping duty as self-defense. One of the groups Mauritanian troops will be fighting is MOJWA (Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, largely composed of black African Islamic radicals and led by Mauritanians). MOJWA is unique among Islamic terrorist groups because its leadership is black African. Mauritanian security forces have made it very difficult for MOJWA to operate in Mauritania and that’s why so many MOJWA members moved to Mali in the last year. Many are still there and not looking forward to the arrival of Mauritanian troops.

 

April 16, 2013: Algerian soldiers and police continue to intercept arms smugglers from Libya trying to get to northern Mali. It’s unclear if these weapons were headed for the Islamic terrorists still operating their or tribesmen. Both are regular customers for weapons dealers.

Chad begins withdrawing troops from Mali

Chad's parliament has voted overwhelmingly to begin withdrawing the country's 2,250 troops from Mali. Soldiers from Chad have played an instrumental role in rooting out Islamists in Mali's mountainous northern region. 

Chadian President Idriss Deby told French journalists on Monday that he had already begun withdrawing an army battalion from embattled Mali, saying that his country's troops were not trained to wage a guerrilla war in Mali's mountainous north.

"Chad's army has no ability to face the kind of guerrilla fighting that is emerging in northern Mali," Deby said in an interview jointly conducted by France's Le Monde newspaper, TV5 Monde and Radio France Internationale (RFI).

"Our soldiers are going to return to Chad," the president added. "They have accomplished their mission."

But Deby went on to say that Chad would contribute troops to a UN peacekeeping force, which is supposed to replace the French-led military coalition in Mali.

Key role in Mali intervention

Chad has played an important role in helping French troops root out Islamist militants from their redoubts in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains. France intervened in Mali last January, halting an Islamist advance toward the capital Bamako and subsequently driving them from northern Mali's major cities.

Chad has claimed responsibility for the deaths of two top Islamist militant commanders in northern Mali. France has confirmed the death of Abou Zeid, a top commander of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

But Paris has not been able to confirm Chadian claims that its troops killed Moktar Belmoktar, another top Islamist commander. Belmoktar is responsible for the siege of the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria last January, which left scores of foreign oil workers dead.

"We have proof that he is dead, but we could not film it because he blew himself up," Deby said. "We would not have wanted to distribute images like that. But we know that people who were taken prisoner identified him."

'Heavy price'

Pockets of resistance remain in Mali, particularly in the region around the city of Gao. Suicide bombings and ambushes have become increasingly common. At least three Chadian soldiers were killed in a suicide blast in Kidal, north of Gao, last Friday.

"We paid a heavy price for this mission," Chad's prime minister, Dadnadji Djimrangar, told parliament during its session on Monday.

At least 36 Chadian troops have been killed in Mali and another 75 wounded. Chad has spent some 57 billion CFA francs (87 million euros, $114 million) on its military campaign in the West African nation.

Mali – A Legend dies, or does he?

France will keep its troops in Mali a month later than planned, with withdrawal beginning in April. France is still not sure which senior Mali leaders were killed recently, because definitive identification of these senior but definitely dead men has proved difficult to confirm. In the last two weeks days France rapidly moved troops into the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains near the Algerian border, where France already knew of al Qaeda had bases. French warplanes have been bombing these bases as more recon aircraft and UAVs are available to confirm al Qaeda targets. 

France and its African allies (especially the desert experienced Chadians) are making an effort to kill or capture as many veteran al Qaeda men before they can scatter to more distant sanctuaries. To this end the recent arrival of American UAVs and electronic intelligence collecting aircraft have proved crucial in detecting and tracking Islamic terrorists who attempt to leave the mountains and head for Libya, Algeria or more distant points. France would prefer to capture as many of these terrorists as possible, but second best is killing them and searching the bodies. French aircraft have to do the killing because the American UAVs are unarmed. The American aircraft have apparently provided target information for at least sixty of the French air strikes in the last few weeks. France is also seeking to rescue seven French civilians believes held captive in the Adrar des Ifoghas. So far the French force of 4,000 in Mali has lost four troops killed during eight weeks of fighting. There are 1,200 French and 800 Chadian troops in the mountains near the Algerian border and dozens of al Qaeda safe houses and weapons and ammo storage sites have been captured or destroyed from the air. 

An African peacekeeping force of about 5,000 troops is occupying the cities and large towns in northern Mali and fighting with al Qaeda men who did not make it to the mountains or across the border.  The destruction of so many al Qaeda bases in Mali, and the death of hundreds of hard-core Islamic terrorists there have demoralized Islamic radicals throughout North Africa. At the same time all counter-terrorism forces in the region are trying to take advantage of all this by seeking out Islamic terrorists fleeing Mali. 

In the end it may be that driving al Qaeda out of Mali was easy while dealing with the rebellious Malian Army proved to be much more difficult. At the moment the Mali Army has about 10,000 people on the payroll and about 6,000 of these are soldiers while the rest are support personnel. The army has always been more of a political than a military force. Jobs in the military are much sought after and those who get them are expected to bring the support of their family for whoever runs the military. Until last year it was senior politicians who controlled the military. Then a coup by junior officers, seeking better weapons and equipment for the army displaced the political control. 

Politicians are notoriously corrupt in Mali but the new army leadership, calling for clean government, has now become a force to contend with in Mali politics. To the foreign nations that supply much of the government budget (via foreign aid) the coup is not acceptable. The foreigners want the elections back, even though the elections were rigged by the corrupt politicians that the younger officers despise. Unfortunately, these officers are not immune to the endemic corruption and are turning into the kind of men they seek to replace. It’s a messy situation that mixes rebellious troops with corrupt politicians. While the EU (European Union) training force (220 military trainers and another to train civilian officials) is planning to train and equip four battalions (about have the troops in the Mali Army) to a higher standards, forcing out the officers who support the coup will be a lot more difficult. The training program begins on April 2^nd. 

March 6, 2013:  A French soldier was killed a hundred kilometers north of Gao in northern Mail while accompanying a force of one hundred Chadian troops that encountered some al Qaeda men. Four Chadians and an unknown number of terrorists were wounded. In the last few days over a hundred al Qaeda men have been killed or wounded. These men were part of a larger force (of several hundred al Qaeda) that were either trapped in Gao or entered from Niger, which is just across the Niger River. 

In the northern mountains 2,000 French and Chadian troops killed at least 15 Islamic terrorists in several clashes today. This fighting took place in the Ametetai valley, where over a hundred Islamic terrorists had taken refuge. The valley has water, as do many other valleys in these mountains near the Algerian border. The locals want no part of this fighting, but will provide information with the right incentives (cash will often work, as it worked for al Qaeda, which operated their lucrative and drug smuggling operations from bases in these mountains). 

March 3, 2013: Over the last three days more than fifty Islamic terrorists were killed during several clashes in northern Mali. Ten Chadian and one French soldier were also killed. Dozens of vehicles and large quantities of weapons and documents were captured. All this took place between Gao and the Adrar des Ifoghas Mountains near the Algerian border.

 

March 1, 2013: The Chadian government went public with the news that Chadian troops in northern Mali had killed two al Qaeda leaders on February 22^nd. 

Mali announced that presidential elections will be held in July. It’s still unclear if the army leadership will obey whoever is elected. 

February 28, 2013: France has spent $131 million for its Mali operations so far and some French officials want to keep French troops there until July. Other French leaders want to get the troops out beginning in March. Apparently a compromise on the withdrawal date is in the works. 

February 26, 2013: In the northern city of Kidal a suicide car bomber killed six armed Tuaregs manning a check point. The Tuareg rebel militias split with al Qaeda over eight months ago and shifted their allegiance to the French when French troops showed up in northern Mali. Kidal is the nearest city to the Adrar des Ifoghas Mountains. 

February 22, 2013: Chadian troops in northern Mali believed they killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar (the planner of the January natural gas facility attack in southern Algeria that got 37 workers killed) and Abdelhamid Abou Zeid (leader of the other al Qaeda group that was long based in these mountains. 

Al Qaeda later said Belmokhtar was still alive but offered no proof. The loss of Belmokhtar would be a major blow to al Qaeda morale as Belmokhtar had a reputation for always escaping the many efforts to kill or capture him. When a legend dies, it is always demoralizing for the followers. The supreme leader of al Qaeda in North Africa (Abdel Malek Droukdel) is believed to be still hiding out in northern Algeria and he would be the one to appoint a successor to Belmokhtar, who was number two or three in the North African al Qaeda organization. There has been no such announcement yet. 

The battle that got the two al Qaeda leaders cost the lives of 13 Chadian troops and over 40 other Islamic terrorists. 

The U.S. announced that it had set up a UAV and intelligence base in nearby Niger. About a hundred American troops were there to maintain several Reaper UAVs. 

February 21, 2013: Two suicide car bombers attempted to attack a French camp outside the northern town of Tessalit. In addition to the bombers, three others were killed.

French Shipyard Piriou registers an order for a new generation 44 meter Maritime Training Ship

PIRIOU registers an order for a Maritime Training Ship (MTS) to be operated by navOcéan, a joint company created by PIRIOU and DCI. This 44-meter ship will be delivered in autumn 2013 and will be named 'Almak' (Desert Lynx) after a star of the Andromeda constellation. The vessel will be used by DCI (The group specializes in providing operational training courses based on the know-how of the French Armed Forces) for training foreign naval forces.

Construction will be conducted by CHANTIERS PIRIOU, the naval construction branch based in Concarneau, France, and its maintenance will be provided by PIRIOU NAVAL SERVICES within the scope of a 10-year In-Service Support (ISS) contract.

                                                 

A multi-purpose training ship: close collaboration has allowed PIRIOU and DCI to design a new generation maritime training ship prototype, that is sturdy with high maneuevring capabilities, economical in terms of investment and operating costs.

This training ship would be able to embark 7 crew members, 2 passengers and 16 trainees and instructors. A spacious Bridge will offer 360° vision; navigation equipment, notably radar and synthetic cartography, will be equipped with repeaters in the training room; the ship's draft will be optimized for the apprenticeship of navigation and manoeuvres in coastal areas. Its endurance will allow one-week transits at 10 knots without port of call.

The ship will spend 35 to 40 weeks per year at sea.