Mistral LHD? Expanding operational deployment capabilities to the Maritime Command

Marine Nationale 3d walkthrough of the BPC Mistral LHD and another French vessel.

The Mistral LHD is a French vessel, the second largest class of ship in the French navy after the Charles de Gaulle nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.  Currently there are two Mistral in service with a third in production and plans being made for ordering a fourth.  The helicopter carrier incorporates massive storage, advanced azimuth propulsion and a top-end electronics warfare suite making it one of the most modern warships in the world.  It is capable of carrying up to 40 LeClerc Main Battle-Tanks (Battalion) and about four-hundred infantry.  The tanks and infantry can be deployed in up to four landing-craft, making the Mistral an effective troop-ship.  While a few other nations around the world have similar carriers, very few countries have the shipbuilding technologies or facilities to undertake massive projects.  The French, very proud of their new carrier have been shopping it around to the Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians in the hopes of finding a buyer.

                The most likely prospective buyer for the Mistral, showing the most interest in acquiring the $600m ship was the Russian Federation.  It was reported in the summer of 2009 that the Russians were looking to purchase two of the French ships, with another planned construction if the order was satisfactory and a fourth vessel to be produced in Russia on the table as well.  This last would not be a simple matter of transferring materiel, but would also involve giving the Russians access to top-secret French naval technologies.  In a spectacular gesture that underscored how much things have changed in the last two decades, the French brought their Mistral to the port at St. Petersburg for an official inspection.  Inclusion of the Mistral in the Baltic fleet would not only enhance the capabilities of Russia to deploy its navalized attack helicopter squadrons there.  It was suggested by a Russian admiral that a Mistral in the Black Sea fleet would have greatly enhanced the federation’s offensive capabilities in its 200* war with Georgia over the breakaway province of South Ossetia.  More to the point, modifications to the hull of the Mistral could result in an ice-reinforced vessel capable of traversing the chill waters of the arctic circle in company with one of Russia’s formidable nuclear-powered icebreakers.

                Canada currently does not possess any comparable vessel to the Mistral and would do well to consider the ship’s contribution to our operational and strategic requirements.  While a large navy is out of the question, the nature of Canada’s overseas involvement is such that an assault-ship could fill a capability gap for the Canadian Forces Maritime Command.  The deployment of small numbers of troops in response to various international crisis situations would benefit greatly from a single vessel which could bring the soldiers to within striking distance and support them.  A modified Mistral could be used to deploy the F-35B Lightning II Joint-Strike Fighter that is currently in the procurement stage, or the Leopard 2A- in support of ground-troops.  Since the unification of our forces into a joint command, the efficiency of operations has been greatly increased and while our strategic need may not call directly for a large standing marine element (like the Marine Corps of our neighbours to the South) our strategic interests could definitely be served with the creation of a maritime deployable task-force that is operationally self-sufficient and sustainable.  Currently the only means of deploying large numbers of troops and materiel is by CC-177 Globemaster III (previously by rented Antonov/Ilyushin).  The ability to deploy on our own schedule, without the need for a large airfield or complex aerial logistics is very important, especially to our participation in multinational coalitions.  The Mistral could be used to deploy the Sea King helicopter (or its much-needed replacement) for everything from search and rescue to combat sustainment.

The battle-damaged INS Hanit sits stricken in port after being
struck by a Hezbollah shore-to-ship missile.

                It’s not that Canada needs to buy this specific vessel.  Developing and building a uniquely Canadian assault ship is an option as well, albeit an expensive one.  One of the Mistral’s major failings is its inability to operate autonomously.  Unlike DDH class (Helicopter-Destroyers) or even ASW equipped vessels with helicopter decks, the Mistral has almost no armament of its own beyond its aircraft complement.  Therefore it is necessary for the Mistral to operate as a prominent flagship in a fleet of ships.  While this may meet the need of asymmetrical warfighting, the recent experiences of Israel in the 2006 war against Hezbollah where a surface-to-surface missile badly crippled an Israeli warship proves that precautions need to be taken in the deployment of vulnerable maritime platforms.  In a conventional war, such as the engagement between the British and the Argentinian militaries over the Falkland islands, there is a precedent for exocet/harpoon missile attacks against vulnerable ships, especially directed towards the ‘carriers’ which form the nexus of a modern fleet.  It falls to the escorting vessels to provide an effective screen against these and other threats.  Needless to say, any upgrading of Canadian capabilities with a Mistral Class or similar vessel would require an upgrade to the infrastructure and tactical capabilities of the Canadian Forces Maritime Command as a whole.