As soon as the equipment is dismantled Russia will be able to offer both equipment and Kamov Ka-52K Katran reconnaissance and attack helicopters

DUBAI, November 9. /TASS/. Russia and Egypt may launch substantive negotiations on the supplies of Kamov Ka-52K Katran reconnaissance and attack helicopters for the Mistral class helicopter carriers only after the dismantlement of Russian equipment from the warships is completed, head of Rostec State Corporation Sergey Chemezov said on Monday.

The equipment dismantling operation is being conducted in France and is to be completed before the end of November. Since the equipment has not been removed, Russia has not yet received an official request from Egypt for the purchase of the helicopters, Chemezov said at the Dubai Airshow-2015 international aerospace exhibition. "Egypt has not yet made the request because our equipment has not been dismantled yet from the Mistrals. As soon as the work is over, we’ll be able to offer both our equipment and our helicopters," he said. "The dismantlement is carried out jointly by our and French specialists," the Rostec chief said, without specifying the timeframe for the work completion. The aggregate value of the dismantled equipment exceeds $10 million. In October, the first batch of the Russian-made equipment was removed from the helicopter carriers and sent to Russia - it comprises combat information management systems and missile weapons and artillery control systems. The communications systems will be next.

Egypt signed a contract on October 10 for purchasing two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships from France, which had been built for Russia. The ships are expected to be delivered to the new customer together with landing boats in the summer of 2016. A group of Russian specialists has been dismantling the Russian-made equipment from the helicopter carriers in France since late September. The DCNS Company that built the ships said that the equipment would be dismantled completely by the end of the year. Previously, Russian president’s chief of staff Sergei Ivanov said that Russia was planning to supply equipment and helicopters for the Mistral-class amphibious assault ships that Egypt is buying from France and that the deal might exceed $1 billion. According to the CEO of the Russian arms exporting company Rosoboronexport, Egypt has not addressed it yet to purchase Kamov Ka-52 helicopters (NATO reporting name: Hokum-B) and the equipment being dismantled from the Mistral-class helicopter carriers at the moment. Russia planned to use Kamov Ka-52K helicopters on board the Mistral-class amphibious assault ships before cancelling the contract. A source in the sphere of military and technical cooperation with foreign states told TASS on October 20, "Egypt intends to purchase ship-based Kamov Ka-52K Katran helicopters for the Mistral-class ships and is now deciding how many it will order." According to the source, the Russian Navy planned to order 32 helicopters of the type for the Mistral-class amphibious assault ships.