Earlier this week news came out that Canada had been actively persuing the purchase of the two Mistral-Class Heli-Carriers from France for the Royal Canadian Navy. These vessels, once converted to Canadian Navy standards could have been thhe backbone to humanitarian missions around the word for the next thirty to forty years. That will not happen now.
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| GEORGES GOBET/AFP/Getty Images |
France announced today that they have come to terms with Egypt to sell the two warships. This deal comes a little more than 6 weeks after France finalized the repayment of $1.2 Billion Euro deal with Russia, after the West entered a Cold War like standoff with Russia over the Ukraine last year.
As the warships are being sold to Egypt, a close ally of both Russia and the West, the Russian technology that was installed on the two Mistral's will most likely be left aboard the ships. This technology would have been removed if they were sold to a NATO member, like Canada.
So the Royal Canadian Navy will continue to suffer waiting for its Canadian Surface Combatant Fleet, which are not yet fully designed, and not set to be in the water before the mid to late 2020s.
This would have been a huge bargain for the RCN, and it missed out because of the early call for the 2015 Election.
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