The main essence of the proposal of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) to the Ministry of Defense to consider the South Korean Dokdo DVKD as an alternative to Mistral is that USC does not want to lose a large order for the construction of ships of this class at the facilities of the Russian shipbuilding industry.
As you know, the French side in negotiations with Russia insists on the production in France of two Mistral dvkd and the transfer of a license for the construction of two more ships of this class in Russia. Moreover, the main subcontractors under the licensing program will also be French companies. In this situation, the lion's share of the funds will go to French manufacturers, and this is a colossal amount of money.
Moreover, the Ministry of Defense, according to TSAMTO, would ideally even prefer the option of building all four ships in France. According to representatives of the Ministry of Defense, this will significantly speed up the work time and reduce the cost of the program. That is, the Russian industry in this project is initially assigned a secondary role.
The subtext of the USC proposal clearly shows a firm intention to obtain from the Ministry of Defense an open tender for the purchase of ships of this class, including with the participation of Russian developers.
“We expect that the Ministry of Defense, taking into account the emerging alternative, will hold a clear and open tender for the construction of ships of this specification for the Russian Navy. Moreover, assurances that such a competition will be announced have been voiced by the Defense Ministry earlier,”the USC said in a statement.
In the message of the USC it is noted that the Dokdo-type DVKD can be built at the facilities of the USC in 36 months.
At the same time, and this is the key link in the USC's proposal, “in the case of designing a Russian analogue, the total work time will increase by only 18 months. At the same time, USC is ready to design a completely Russian ship of this type in the long-term planning of rearmament of the Russian Navy."
That is, USC offers the Ministry of Defense two options - either licensed production of Dokdo-type DVKDs at USC facilities, if the urgency of work is in the foreground, or design and construction of a ship of this class in Russia, if we are talking about a long-term program for the purchase of ships of this class by the Russian Navy. …
USC reasonably justifies its position, in particular, on the obvious advantage of the choice of "Dokdo" in comparison with "Mistral". At the same time, it is especially emphasized that the choice in any case should be made based on the results of the tender.
As noted in the message, “the main advantage of this option is that USC, as part of a joint venture with the Korean company Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (Zvezda-DSME), has the opportunity to acquire a license for this ship and for its construction in Russia. The production of "Mistral" in France at the shipyard in Saint-Nazaire will actually be an order from the same Korea, since the French shipyard belongs to the Korean company STX. But it is more profitable for Russia to produce such a ship at home within the framework of a joint venture created under the control of the Russian state."
According to USC, the cost of building Dokdo in Russia is estimated at $ 450 million. The cost of the Mistral, according to the data announced by the Ministry of Defense, will amount to 600 million euros. "We consider it reasonable to consider a more profitable proposal in financial terms," - noted in the USC.
In addition, the Dokdo DVKD is a more modern ship of this class, and in a number of basic tactical and technical characteristics it surpasses the French Mistral DVKD, the USC said.
That is why USC proposes to build ships of this class at the Russian shipyards that are part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation. USC guarantees high quality of work and their execution on time.
As stated in the message of the USC, the proposal on behalf of the President of the USC Roman Trotsenko to the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Anatoly Serdyukov was received on March 3, 2010. On February 25, 2010, a similar proposal was sent to the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Vladimir Vysotsky.
The USC's appeal was the second "open" expression of protest by Russian shipbuilders against the uncontested intention of the Ministry of Defense to purchase Mistral-type DVKDs.
Last week, PSZ Yantar applied to the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) with a request to investigate the legality of the planned purchase of Mistral helicopter carriers by the RF Ministry of Defense.
In accordance with the general public procurement procedure, the RF Ministry of Defense must announce a tender for the purchase of DVKD. In this case, France, the Netherlands, Spain, South Korea (together with USC) and, possibly, a number of other Russian enterprises may become potential participants in the tender.
On the part of the Ministry of Defense, there is still no clear answer to the question of why the preference was given to the French project. For example, the French project Mistral DVKD in 2007 lost to the Spanish company Navantia a tender for the supply of two DVKDs for the Australian Navy. Obviously, the reason for the loss of the Mistral DVD in the Australian Navy tender should be thoroughly analyzed before making a final decision on the purchase of the DVKD from one manufacturer or another, especially without an official tender announcement, but for a direct purchase.
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South Korea
The South Korean Navy launched the first amphibious assault dock, Dokdo, in 2005 and entered service in 2007. By 2016, the Navy plans to adopt two more ships of this class.
DVKD class "Dokdo" is a ship with a length of 199 m, a width of 31 m and a maximum displacement of 19 thousand tons, a speed of 23 knots (43 km / h). The ship is equipped with modern radar equipment and an air defense system. DVKD can carry up to 700 people, 10 tanks, an air group of 10-12 helicopters and two air-cushion landing craft.
DVKD "Dokdo" after a minor modification of the deck can also be used as a light aircraft carrier with a small air group.
France
In service with the French Navy there are two DVKD "Mistral". The contract for their construction was signed with DCNS in January 2001. The total cost of the agreement was $ 428.5 million (in 2001 prices).
The lead ship of the Mistral series (w / n L9013) was laid down on July 10, 2003, launched on October 6, 2004, and handed over to the French Navy on December 15, 2006. Construction of the "Tonner" began in December 2004. On June 25, 2006, the ship was launched and in March 2007 transferred to the French Navy.
In April 2009, as part of a plan to stimulate the defense industry implemented by the French government, contracts were signed with STX France and DCNS for the construction of the third Mistral DVKD for the French Navy. The estimated cost of the agreement is 420 million euros (554 million dollars). The groundbreaking ceremony for the Dixmund DVD was held on January 20, 2010 at the Cruise facility of STX France in Saint-Nazaire. Testing of the third Mistral-class vessel is expected to begin in May 2011. The adoption of the DVKD by the French Navy is scheduled for 2012. In the future, two more DVKDs can be built for the French Navy.
DVKD class "Mistral" is a ship with a length of 199 m, a width of 32 m, a displacement of 21,600 tons and a draft of 6, 2 m. rotary rowing electric motor "Alstom-Mermeid". The ship's electrical propulsion system allows a speed of 19 knots. The sea passage range at a speed of 15 knots is 11 thousand nautical miles. The high level of automation made it possible to reduce the ship's crew to 160 permanent personnel.
The ship's project includes the possibility of installing two Simbad MANPADS launchers with Mistral missiles, two 30-mm Breda-Mauser artillery mounts and four 12.7 mm MN-2V machine guns.
On a 5,200 sq. m accommodates 6 helicopters weighing up to 16 tons of NH-90 or Tiger type. Up to 10 more helicopters can be in the cargo hangar.
DVKD can transport 450 fully equipped military personnel, 60 light armored vehicles, or 13 MBT "Leclerc". The ship is equipped with an internal dock, which houses two air-cushion landing boats of the LCAC type or four tank landing boats of the STM type.
Ships of the Mistral type can be used as an amphibious assault dock ship, a floating hospital, an evacuation vessel for humanitarian missions, and also as a command and control ship. The equipment includes a three-coordinate radar, satellite communication stations "Syracuse-3", "Inmarsat" and "Flitsatcom", the automated combat control system "Zenit-9", the information and command system SIC-21.
