Sevastopol fitting out in Saint-Nazaire, December 2014 | |
History | |
---|---|
Russia | |
Name | Sevastopol |
Ordered | June 2011 |
Builder | |
Laid down | 18 June 2013 [1] |
Launched | 20 November 2014 [2] |
Status | Contract cancelled |
Egypt | |
Name | Anwar El Sadat |
Namesake | Anwar Sadat |
Acquired | 16 September 2016 [3] |
Homeport | Alexandria |
Identification |
|
Status | In service |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Mistral-class amphibious assault ship |
Displacement |
|
Length | 199 m (653 ft) |
Beam | 32 m (105 ft) |
Draught | 6.3 m (21 ft) |
Installed power | 3 × Wärtsilä 16V32 (3 × 6,200 kW (8,300 hp)) |
Speed | 18.8 knots (34.8 km/h; 21.6 mph) |
Range |
|
Armament | 4 × AN/TWQ-1 Avenger mobile SAM (32 FIM-92 Stinger missiles) [4] |
Aircraft carried |
|
Aviation facilities | Helicopter deck and hangar |
ENS Anwar El Sadat (L1020) is an Egyptian Navy amphibious assault ship, a type of helicopter carrier, of the French Mistral class. It was originally built in France for the Russian Navy as part of a contract for two of these warships and underwent sea trials. [6] The contract with Russia was subsequently cancelled by France and an agreement on compensation was reached with the Russian government. Egypt and France eventually concluded a deal to acquire the two warships for roughly 950 million euros. [7] Egypt is considered the first and only country in Africa and the Middle East to possess a helicopter carrier of such type. [8]
The Russian government placed an order for this and another warship in 2011. The construction of these ships would be shared between both countries, with France building about 60 percent and Russia 40 percent. Work started in Saint-Nazaire, France, on 18 June 2013, and in the Russian Baltiysky Zavod shipyard in St. Petersburg on 4 July 2013. [9] Russia would send its parts to France for final assembly. [10] The ship was originally expected to join the Russian Navy in 2015. [11] [12] After final assembly of the main structures in France the ship was then scheduled to go to St. Petersburg, Russia, for the outfitting of additional Russian-specific weapons and subsystems.[ citation needed ]
The Russian acquisition of these two French Mistral-class amphibious assault ships was considered to be the largest defense deal between Russia and the West since World War II. [13]
In 2014, as criticism of Russian intervention in Ukraine grew, France came under increasing pressure to cancel or suspend the delivery of the two Mistral-class hulls, tentatively named Vladivostok and Sevastopol. [14] Some commentators suggested France try to find alternative customers for the two vessels. [15] In August, 2015, the two governments reached agreement on terms for cancelling the contract; France would keep the ships and fully reimburse Russia. [16]
On 7 August 2015, a French diplomatic source confirmed that President Hollande had discussed the matter with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi during his visit to Egypt for the inauguration of the New Suez Canal in Ismailia. [17] [18] Subsequently, in October 2015, Egypt and France concluded a deal to acquire the two formerly Russian-bound warships for roughly 950 million euros, which included the costs of training Egyptian crews. [19] [20] [21] Speaking on RMC Radio, Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Defence Minister, said that Egypt had already paid the whole price for the helicopter carriers.[ citation needed ]
Beginning in February 2016, 180 Egyptian sailors began training in Saint-Nazaire, France, on the newly renamed landing helicopter dock Gamal Abdel Nasser, with the support of the DCNS (Direction des Constructions Navales Services) and STX France instructors and Défense Conseil International.
On 16 September 2016, DCNS delivered the Anwar El Sadat, which participated in a joint exercise with the French Navy before arriving at its home port of Alexandria on 6 October 2016, coinciding with the country's celebrations of the 43rd anniversary of the 1973 October War against Israel. [8] [22]
Since receiving its two Mistral-class carriers, Egypt had issued an international tender for the procurement of new maritime helicopters. The Egyptian Navy and Air Force studied several offers for helicopters to use on both carriers. [8] European and Russian manufacturers entered the bidding procedure; NHIndustries and Airbus Helicopters were reported to have offered their NH90 and Tiger helicopters, while Russian Helicopters offered its Ka-52K helicopter. [23] [24] By May 2017, the tender had reached its final stage, Russian Helicopters stated that it would intermediary enter into pricing negotiations if the company won the tender.[ citation needed ] In June 2017, Russia announced it had won the tender for providing the Ka-52K. The head of the FSVTS, Dmitry Shugayev, said that pre-contract work was underway, including final agreement on the helicopter's technical concept and other financial conditions. [25] Egypt is likely to buy the same package intended for the Russian Navy, which includes Ka-52K attack helicopters and Ka-29/31 utility helicopters, before the contract was cancelled by France. [26]
In October 2016, Anwar El Sadat took part in military exercises jointly conducted by the Egyptian and French navies in the Mediterranean Sea. The drills were held under the code name Cleopatra 2016/2, they were the first for the ship after being delivered to Egypt the previous month. The exercises included a number of activities such as both forces planning and managing naval combat missions. [27]
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a naval force to project air power worldwide without depending on local bases for staging aircraft operations. Carriers have evolved since their inception in the early twentieth century from wooden vessels used to deploy balloons to nuclear-powered warships that carry numerous fighters, strike aircraft, helicopters, and other types of aircraft. While heavier aircraft such as fixed-wing gunships and bombers have been launched from aircraft carriers, these aircraft have not landed on a carrier. By its diplomatic and tactical power, its mobility, its autonomy and the variety of its means, the aircraft carrier is often the centerpiece of modern combat fleets. Tactically or even strategically, it replaced the battleship in the role of flagship of a fleet. One of its great advantages is that, by sailing in international waters, it does not interfere with any territorial sovereignty and thus obviates the need for overflight authorizations from third-party countries, reduces the times and transit distances of aircraft and therefore significantly increase the time of availability on the combat zone.
A landing helicopter dock (LHD) is a multipurpose amphibious assault ship which is capable of operating helicopters and has a well deck. The United States Navy (USN) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) use the term as a hull classification symbol.
The Mistral class is a class of five amphibious assault ships built by France. Also known as helicopter carriers, and referred to as "projection and command ships", a Mistral-class ship is capable of transporting and deploying 16 NH90 or Tiger helicopters, four landing barges, up to 70 vehicles including 13 Leclerc tanks, or a 40-strong Leclerc tank battalion, and 450 soldiers. The ships are equipped with a 69-bed hospital, and are capable of serving as part of a NATO Response Force, or with United Nations or European Union peace-keeping forces.
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The Canberra class is a ship class of two landing helicopter dock (LHD) ships built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Planning to upgrade the navy's amphibious fleet began in 2000, based on Australian experiences leading the International Force for East Timor peacekeeping operation. With a new climate for growing Australian Navy spending, a desire existed for forward defence capability for landing and supporting troops on Asian territory, that had never existed in Australian history, even with the old Majestic-class light fleet carriers, HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Sydney in the 1970s. In 2004, French company Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) and Spanish company Navantia were invited to tender proposals, with DCN offering the Mistral-class amphibious assault ship and Navantia proposing the "Buque de Proyección Estratégica" design. The Spanish design was selected in 2007, with Navantia responsible for construction of the ships from the keel to the flight deck, and BAE Systems Australia handling the fabrication of the combat and communications systems. Finally, Siemens (Germany) supplied and fitted the azimuth thrusters.
The Egyptian Navy, also known as the Egyptian Naval Force, is the maritime branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces. It is the largest navy in the Middle East as well as Africa, and is the twelfth largest navy in the world. The navy protects more than 2,000 kilometers of coastline of the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, defense of approaches to the Suez Canal, and it also supports for army operations. The majority of the modern Egyptian Navy was created with the help of the Soviet Union in the 1960s. The navy received ships in the 1980s from China and other Western sources. In 1989, the Egyptian Navy had 18,000 personnel as well as 2,000 personnel in the Coast Guard. The navy received ships from the US in 1990. US shipbuilder Swiftships has built around 30 boats for the Egyptian Navy including mine hunters, survey vessels, and both steel and aluminium patrol boats.
A helicopter carrier is a type of aircraft carrier whose primary purpose is to operate helicopters, and has a large flight deck that occupies a substantial part of the deck, which can extend the full length of the ship like HMS Ocean of the Royal Navy (RN), or extend only partway, usually aft, as in the Soviet Navy's Moskva class or in the Chinese Navy's Type 0891A. It often also has a hangar deck for the storage of aircraft.
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Then there is the possibility of poking Vladimir Putin in the eye by taking over ownership of the Sevastopol.