page_title: Mistral-class amphibious assault ship
section_title: Amphibious transport
hierarchical_section_title: Mistral-class amphibious assault ship / Features and capabilities / Amphibious transport
caption_attribution_description: An M1A1 Abrams tank with Tank Platoon, Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, embarks aboard the French Command and Projection ship FS Tonnerre, Feb. 7, 2009, off the coast of North Carolina for Composite Training Unit Exercise.
context_page_description: The Mistral class is a class of five amphibious assault ships, also known as a helicopter carrier, of the French Navy. Referred to as "projection and command ships", a Mistral-class ship is capable of transporting and deploying 16 NH90 or Tiger helicopters, four landing barges, up to 70 vehicles including 13 AMX Leclerc tanks, or a 40-strong Leclerc tank battalion, and 450 soldiers. The ships are equipped with a 69-bed hospital, and are capable of serving as part of a NATO Response Force, or with United Nations or European Union peace-keeping forces.
  Three ships of the class are in service in the French Navy: Mistral, Tonnerre, and Dixmude. A deal for two ships for the Russian Navy was announced by then French President Nicolas Sarkozy on 24 December 2010, and signed on 25 January 2011. In September 2014, French President François Hollande announced the postponement of delivery of the first warship, Vladivostok, due to the Russia–Ukraine crisis. On 5 August 2015, President Hollande and Russian president Vladimir Putin announced that France would refund payments and keep the two ships; the two ships were later sold to Egypt.
context_section_description: Mistral-class ships can accommodate up to 450 soldiers, although this can be doubled for short-term deployments. The 2,650-square-metre (28,500 sq ft) vehicle hangar can carry a 40-strong Leclerc tank battalion, or a 13-strong Leclerc tank company and 46 other vehicles. By comparison, Foudre-class ships can carry up to 100 vehicles, including 22 AMX-30 tanks, in the significantly smaller 1,000-square-metre (11,000 sq ft) deck.
  The 885-square-metre (9,530 sq ft) well deck can accommodate four landing craft. The ships are capable of operating two LCAC hovercraft, and although the French Navy appears to have no intention of purchasing any LCACs, this capability improves the class' ability to interoperate with the United States Marine Corps and the British Royal Navy. Instead the DGA ordered eight French-designed 59-tonne EDA-R catamarans.
caption: A U.S. Marine Corps M1A1 Abrams tank embarks aboard Tonnerre off the coast of North Carolina for Composite Training Unit Exercise (7 February 2009).
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