Saint-Nazaire, France. Nov 30,2024: As the war in Ukraine escalates ahead of potential negotiations & a race for new military technologies, flashback to a forgotten event. 10 years ago, in last days of November 2014, French President François Hollande refused to honor the contract for the delivery of two helicopter carriers (BPC Mistral class) to Russia, in the wake of the invasion of Crimea. At the same time, sensitive IT equipment was stolen from one of the two ships under construction: the amphibious warships LHD Vladivostok and Sebastopol (Landing Helicopter Dock). Credit: KEVIN IZORCE/Ala
Saint-Nazaire, France. Nov 30,2024: As the war in Ukraine escalates ahead of potential negotiations & a race for new military technologies, flashback to a forgotten event. 10 years ago, in last days of November 2014, French President François Hollande refused to honor the contract for the delivery of two helicopter carriers (BPC Mistral class) to Russia, in the wake of the invasion of Crimea. At the same time, sensitive IT equipment was stolen from one of the two ships under construction: the amphibious warships LHD Vladivostok and Sebastopol (Landing Helicopter Dock). Two hard drives, a motherboard, a graphics card & communications management software used for radar transmissions, high-tech developed by Thales, were stolen & a judicial investigation launched. Police investigators found no trace of a break-in & the investigations concerned "the immediate environment of the ship" without, as diplomacy requires, explicitly pointing the finger at the 400 Russian sailors stationed aboard the training vessel Smolny, which had arrived a few months earlier to train the future crews of the two Russian warships. The results of the investigation were never made public. On December 18, 2014, the Smolny left with its sailors without the two ships that were initially intended for them. These ships were ultimately resold to the Egyptian Navy in 2015. The decision to cancel these contracts was highly criticized by part of the French political class at the time, particularly because of the cost incurred by France (409 million euros). But in light of the Ukrainian conflict since 2022, opinions have changed. ARCHIVE - Rare picture taken the 1st Feb 2015: the Vladivostok. Credit: Kevin Izorce/Alamy Live News
Size: 5412px × 3608px
Location: Saint Nazaire shipyard, Loire Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France, Europe
Photo credit: © KEVIN IZORCE / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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