More on Mistral

See Dmitry Gorenburg at Russian Military Reform for some additional analysis of Russian thinking on the Mistral purchase. I'm not actually convinced that a Mistral type ship is useless for anti-piracy and sea lane maintenance operations; even if the vessel is limited to "command ship" functions, I suspect that its presence could substantially enhance the effectiveness of a Russian squadron, especially given the possible necessity of raids against vessels controlled by pirates, or against pirate havens on land. The Mistral, in other words, would help the Russian Navy to conduct independent amphibious operations in distant locales, which is one of the central jobs of any major amphib. Of course, a Mistral could also be helpful in settling disputes closer to home...