France to field largest assault ship in wargames with India

Marking growing military ties with India, the French Navy proposes to field its largest amphibious assault ship 'Mistral' in the 'Varuna-2008' naval war games, which would be held in the Bay of Bengal early in May.

Mistral, a 32,300-tonnes displacement warship, would be accompanied by missile frigates and stealth ships in war games to be held off India's Eastern Sea board, in which amphibious landings would form a major component, Navy 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.

After nuclear carrier Charles de Gaulle and nuclear submarines, which have been fielded in previous exercises, Mistral would be another majestic presentation from the French side.

Mistral is capable of deploying 16 NH 90 medium helicopters and also has reinforced forward pod to accommodate 30 tonne helicopters such as the CH-53E Super Stallion.

The warship is capable of ferrying an 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 the Horn of Africa for the first ever Indo-South African and Brazilian trilateral war games.

The Joint exercises are being held under the framework of IBSAMAR (India, Brazil, South Africa Maritime exercises), which are slated to become an annual feature from next year.

Besides, Indian warships would also undertake goodwill visits to Thailand, Vietnam, Phillipines, Singapore and Malaysia, during the same time.