After bringing in nuclear carrier Charles de Gaulle and Nuclear submarines to Indian waters, the French Navy proposes to field its largest amphibious assault ship Mistral in the war games with Indian Navy to be held early next month.
Mistral, 32,300 tonnes displacement warship would be accompanied by Missile frigates and stealth ships in the Varuna-2008 exercises to be held in Bay of Bengal off India's Eastern Sea board in which amphibious landings would form a major component, Naval sources said. The visit of the amphibious warship to Indian waters assumes significance as Indian Navy has expressed interest in the design of the Ship Landing dock. Mistral is capable of deploying 16 NH 90 medium helicopters and has reinforced forward pod to accommodate 30 tonne helicopters such as the CH-53E super stallion. The warship is capable of ferrying a whole armed battalion with 13 heavy tanks and 70 vehicles and has four landing barges. The French Naval flotilla will dock in Chennai around May 12, and then after a port call undertake war games with Indian Naval warships including Rajput class missile destroyers, Kirch class corvettes, submarines and helicopters, in the Bay of Bengal. At around the same time, an Indian Naval flotilla comprising warships of the Western Naval Fleet will embark on a trip to Horn of Africa for the first ever Indo-South African and Brazilian trilateral war games.
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