Talks On Mistral Ships Upgrade, Helicopters Supplies To Egypt Underway - Russian Official

Negotiations on upgrading Mistral-class amphibious assault ships and delivering Russian helicopters to Egypt are in the active phase, and Moscow hopes to sign a relevant agreement in the near future, Director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Dmitry Shugaev said on Wednesday.

SOCHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th October, 2018) Negotiations on upgrading Mistral-class amphibious assault ships and delivering Russian helicopters to Egypt are in the active phase, and Moscow hopes to sign a relevant agreement in the near future, Director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Dmitry Shugaev said on Wednesday.

"This topic is in the active phase. We hope that we will come to an agreement soon," Shugayev told reporters.

In June 2017, it was reported that Russia had won the tender for the supply of Ka-52K helicopters to Egypt, which plans to purchase them for further deployment on Mistral-class helicopter carriers.

Russia was planning to purchase Mistral-class amphibious assault ships from France, but the 1.2-billion-euro (about $1.3 billion at the current exchange rate) contract was officially terminated in 2015. Shortly after, then-President of France Francois Hollande said Paris had agreed to sell two Mistrals to Cairo. Both ships had been transferred to Egypt by the fall of 2016.