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Russia Ready to Construct Helicopter Carriers for Foreign States

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian shipbuilders are ready to construct helicopter carriers for foreign countries in case of relevant requests, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov told Sputnik.
Sputnik

“I can only say that we are really able to construct helicopter carriers and to sell them to customers including foreign ones, which will be interested in that,” Manturov said.

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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 over the anti-Russian sanctions.

In August, Manturov told Sputnik that Russia would build amphibious assault ships, rather than helicopter carries, which will be capable of transporting helicopters.

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Previously, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said that the construction of helicopter carriers, similar to Mistral-class ships, was part of the state armament procurement program for 2018-2025.

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