Russia has plans for three nuclear-powered, 60,000-ton aircraft carriers
28 Feb 2009
Moscow: Russia has announced that it's next-generation aircraft carrier will be nuclear powered and have a displacement of up to 60,000 metric tons. According to a United Shipbuilding Corporation executive, Vice Adm. Anatoly Shlemov, though the new carrier was still at the drawing board stage, its blueprint and basic specifications had already been defined.
He said the carrier will field next-generation fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft, in particular, a fifth-generation fighter that will replace the Su-33 multirole fighter aircraft currently in service, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
"It will be a fifth-generation aircraft with classic horizontal take-off and landing capability," the admiral said.
Adm Shlemov is the company's head of defence contracts.
According to Shlemov, unlike in the past, the new aircraft carrier would not be armed with cruise missiles, which were not part of its "job description."
He said that at least three such carriers were to be built, for the Northern and Pacific Fleets. He offered no timeframe for the project, and also said it was not as yet clear which shipyard would get the contract.
The new carrier has an estimated price tag of $4 billion.
The Russian Navy deploys one aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, built in 1985, with a displacement of 55,000 metric tons. It has a crew of 1,500, and the capability to carry more than 50 aircraft.