Seamen walk past as the Mistral French amphibious helicopter carrier docks on the Neva River in St. Petersburg, November 23, 2009.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – A French amphibious assault ship like the one Russia hopes to buy arrived Monday in St. Petersburg, fueling concern in Georgia and other ex-Soviet nations that Russia is upgrading its navy to intimidate its neighbors.
The Mistral military ship, which can carry more than a dozen helicopters along with dozens of tanks and other armored vehicles, would certainly be a modern way to project Russian power.
It docked Monday on the Neva River, about 1 kilometer (.6 miles) from the Hermitage museum. Russian officials are considering buying a Mistral ship and a license to build several others — their first such purchase from a NATO country.
Media reports have said it would cost Russia up to euro500 million ($750 million) to buy a Mistral-class ship
Russia has only one Soviet-built aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, which is much smaller than the U.S. aircraft carriers and has been plagued by mechanical problems and accidents.
Russian shipbuilders have opposed the Mistral deal, saying the government should invest in domestic production instead. Navy officials have argued that license production of Mistral-class ships would help modernize Russia's aging industries.
The navy chief, Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky, has said a ship like Mistral would have allowed the Russian navy to mount a much more efficient operation in the Black Sea during the Russia-Georgia war. He said the French ship would take just 40 minutes to do the job that the Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels did in 26 hours, apparently referring to amphibious landing operations...