france's mistral profiled earlier in this show is a case in point.now participating in the massive bold alligator amphibious exercise off the east coast, the ship combines the best elements of construction in automation, packing capabilities into a affordable package. mistral can carry up to 650 troops, up to 90 vehicles and up to 35 helicopters. better, still, mistral needs a crew of just 170 and costs about $600 million. it's hard to compare it to any u.s. vessel. mistral carries about the same number of troops an an lpd amphibious class ship 1/3 of the cost but with a flight that's comparable to a wasp ship. every vessel is the result of tradeoffs. time will tell whether france made the right choices in opting a ship so different from traditional designs. what is clear is that mistral has spent the vast majority of the past four years at sea performing real-world missions, most recently off of libya, more efficiency and at less cost than older war ship designs. overall, it's an attractive package. while she's here, u.s. officials should check her