Mistral Decision Coming Next Month

      French President François Hollande will decide in November whether France will go ahead with a delivery of the Mistral-class helicopter carrier to Russia, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday.

Sources have said previously that a decision was expected in either late October or early November.

“In early September, the president said that if the political conditions did not change, he could not imagine authorizing a delivery,” Le Drian told journalists at the Euronaval trade show.

Mystery Deepens Over Reported Russian Sub in Sweden

STOCKHOLM — Mystery deepened Sunday over a Swedish military operation triggered by “foreign underwater activity” off the coast of Stockholm, amid an unconfirmed report of a hunt for a damaged Russian submarine.

Late Saturday, Swedish armed forces stepped up an operation — involving more than 200 men, stealth ships, minesweepers and helicopters — in an area about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of the Swedish capital. The manuevers were initiated Friday after the armed forces said they had been informed of a “man made object” in the water.

Officials denied they were “submarine hunting,” calling the mobilization — one of the biggest, barring purely training exercises, since the Cold War — an “intelligence operation.”

Russia also denied on Sunday that any of its submarines were involved.

New-generation nuclear-powered missile destroyer under development in Russia

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. Russia’s Defense Ministry has approved the technical design specification for the Leader class destroyers, a high-ranking source in the ministry told TASS on Tuesday.

The destroyer’s nuclear-powered and gas turbine versions are planned. He said there was no clarity yet concerning the weapons, but the new ship will be most likely equipped with the Caliber high-precision cruise missile system and the S-500 antiaircraft defense system.

“The Leader technical design specification prepared by the Navy command has been signed by the Defense Ministry leadership that approved the engineering design for two versions of the destroyer — nuclear-powered and gas turbine,” the source said.

Future Is Cloudy for Russian Carrier Aviation

The future of the Russian navy aircraft carrier component is in doubt after the Russian defense ministry decided to have its nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser, the Admiral Nakhimov, rather than its aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov repaired and refitted at Sevmash, the nation’s largest dockyard.

Sevmash had considered taking either the Nakhimov or the Kuznetsov for extended work after its facilities in the port city of Severodvinsk, including a large dry dock, became available following the conversion of the Kiev-class carrier Admiral Gorshkov into the INS Vikramaditya for the Indian Navy. Top Russian and Indian officials are expected to participate in a departure ceremony for the Vikramaditya in mid-November.