The second more

When the delegation of the French Ministry of Defense visited the Soviet Union, Yazov followed Yanayev's instructions and began to plan a unique military cooperation project. This was to correct the fallacy of the Soviet Navy in the long-term military development because of the short-circuiting of the leaders' minds.

From the Khrushchev era to the Gotu era, the Soviet leaders did not have a sufficient understanding of the role of large warships such as aircraft carriers, which led to the loss of good development opportunities. Disagreements over the direction of the development of amphibious warfare also prevented the Red Navy from achieving a direct deck amphibious assault ship. As the third-generation cradle of the Soviet aircraft carrier, the Soviet Neva Design Bureau once designed a Type 11780 amphibious assault ship with the Kiev-class as the parent type after the Kiev-class aircraft carrier came to an end. The helicopter take-off and landing point in front of the ship island with the same armament as the Kiev class has been removed. If the development is successful, although it is not as good as the Wasp level, it is also quite powerful. However, with the tightening of the Soviet Union's military budget, the Model 11780 was not mass-produced.

Since the Soviet Union lacked experience in the construction of amphibious landing ships, the best way was to absorb foreign technology and transfer it to its own use, and in such an international situation, Yanayev's first thought was the equipment of the French Navy.

After the 90s, there were only four main amphibious assault ships of the French Navy, in addition to the two Lightning-class dock landing ships that were commissioned in the 90s, that is, the two 8,000-ton Storm-class amphibious assault ships that were commissioned in 1965 and 1968 respectively, of which the latter was too old to be on duty after entering the 21st century; With the exception of the Tempest, the French Navy's aging helicopter cruiser, Joan of Arc, suffered serious mechanical failures at the beginning of the century and was not functioning effectively; The aging and deterioration of these ships has seriously affected the amphibious combat capability of the French Navy.

Yanayev is even more aware of these inside stories than the French high-level, France is now considering using a new amphibious assault ship as the main force of the French Navy, which will involve the service of the French Mistral-class amphibious landing ship in the future, Yanayev has to do is to let the Soviet Union's Neva Design Bureau cooperate with France to develop the Mistral Class, so as to accumulate experience, and have a better Mistral Class than the 11780 type.

Yanayev wanted to complete this plan while the iron was heating up when relations between the Soviet Union and France were heating up, after all, Yanayev had invested so much energy in Chirac. No matter how you say it, you should get back some kind of returns.

It was under such elaborate arrangements that the French delegation visited Moscow, not so much to exchange friendship as to enhance the arms trade between the two countries, and Chirac was not a fool, and he arranged for Michael Potilo to visit the Soviet Union, so that he could see that the old fox's keen sense of smell was not only to make a fortune in Libya, but also to earn a fortune from the Soviet Union.

It can be said that Potiro and Yazov have almost the same mission, both hoping to scrape a piece of fat from each other.

The St. George's Room was brightly lit, with dozens of crystal lamps on everyone's face on their faces, and French Ministry of Defense officials stood in front of a number of Russian Defense Ministry personnel with glasses raised, exchanging military projects between the two countries, and the performance of the symphony masked each other's previous whispers.

Yazov walked into the crowd of French Defense Minister Poitiro with a glass, and when he saw Yazov, he said a word of discompanionship to the people around him, and then quickly stepped forward to greet Minister Yazov.

"Hello, Minister Yazov." Potiro stretched out his hand and shook it with Yazov's right hand, and the reporters around him quickly pressed the shutter, and for a moment the sound and light were everywhere, and the dazzling bright light made Potiro squint.

"Hello, Minister Potiro." Yazov smiled and said, "Are you satisfied with the banquet we arranged?" ”

"Very satisfied." Potiro nodded, "The intimate and thoughtful care has even completely subverted my previous imagination." ”

Yazov raised his glass, the yellowish wine echoed in the glass, and he said with a smile, "Is it subverting the image of the terror and evil red empire that has long been propagated by the Americans?" Now, for the sake of the friendship between our two countries, cheers. ”

"Cheers." The crystal cup collided with the crystal cup, and Yazov raised his head. The wine in the glass is drunk in one gulp.

Seeing that the atmosphere had almost warmed up, Yazov cut straight to the point and said to Potiro. "I'm a little curious, does France have any recent plans to develop new landing ships? I mean, as is the case today, France's amphibious landing ships are in an aging state, and now that there are ongoing international and regional conflicts, the need to project force from sea to land is increasing day by day, so many European navies are considering expanding their amphibious combat capabilities. I heard that in order to replace the Tempest-class and improve the amphibious combat capability, the French Naval Shipbuilding Bureau launched a multi-functional amphibious assault ship program in July this year, intending to develop new multi-functional amphibious assault ships, and at the same time, at the same time, according to the needs of the post-present, the national amphibious combat operation model will be formulated as the basis for the rapid projection of force by the French army to the outside world in the future, right? ”

Hearing so much information from Yazov at once, Minister Potiro withdrew his gaze from the symphony orchestra, he looked at the smiling Yazov with some vigilance, and asked, "I want to know what Minister Yazov wants to find out from me?" ”

Yazov stepped on the marble tiles on the floor, and said very calmly, "Nothing, join me and say that the Soviet Union wants to study amphibious assault ships with France, will you agree?" Now the Soviets have a plan in their hands, but they have been suffering from the lack of a full-fledged dockyard to accomplish this task, and I think the French Pacific Shipyard will be the best choice for this plan. ”

Minister Potilo slowly narrowed his eyes, wondering what conspiracy Yazov had behind it. The design drawings of large ships were originally a secret of a country, and at this time the Minister of Defense actually took the initiative to propose joint research and development, which was completely to put the big cake in front of the greedy French army.

"If Minister Potiro agrees, we will advance the friendship between our Neva Design Bureau and the Pacific Shipyard."

After weighing the pros and cons, Potiro replied, "In the case of joint development, I would like to discuss it after the French delegation has understood and investigated the feasibility, but for now, I have agreed to Minister Yazov's request to send experts to visit it." ”

"No problem, Minister Potiro."

Yazov took the other two glasses from the attendant's plate, handed one of them to the French Minister of Defense, and gently bumped the glasses by the way.

Yazov smiled and said, "Let's toast to the cooperation between France and the Soviet Union." (To be continued.) )