"Someone" removed hard drives and other Hi-tech equipment from Russian Mistral.

"Someone" removed hard drives and other Hi-tech equipment from Russian Mistral.(Guardian).

Hi-tech and highly sensitive equipment has reportedly disappeared from a warship France has built and is refusing to hand over to the Russians.

The vessel, the Vladivostok, has been undergoing trials off the Atlantic port of Saint-Nazaire, where it was built, with a 400-strong Russian crew. The amphibious assault ship, one of two Mistral helicopter carriers being built by France for the Russian military in a €1.2bn (£955m) deal with Moscow, was scheduled to be delivered by the end of this month.

According to French reports, the “sensitive material” was reported missing on Tuesday, the same day the French president, François Hollande, said the ship’s delivery to Moscow would be postponed “until further notice” because of concerns over Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict.

Le Point magazine reported that police at Rennes had opened a “preliminary investigation” into the alleged theft of hard drives from the ship’s computers as well as sensitive and state-of-the-art communications equipment installed by electronics firm Thales. Officers said there was no evidence of a break-in.

The French defence ministry said the investigation was concentrating on those in the “immediate vicinity” of the vessel. “We haven’t got to the point of suspecting the Russians,” a defence spokesperson said. Hmmm....My guess those Russian ships in the English Channel are studying them :) Read the full story here.