02.03.2009
Source:
Translation:
RusNavy.com
The Russian Navy’s new-generation aircraft carrier will be powered by a nuclear generator and have a water displacement of 60,000 tonnes, Vice Admiral Anatoly Shlemov, an official with the United Shipbuilding Corporation, told Ria Novosti on Friday.
The Russian Navy currently has only one aircraft carrier, the
Admiral Kuznetsov. It has a water displacement of 55,000 tonnes.
“Experts and engineers have begun work on the model of the future ship and have settled on its shape. We are working on the requirements, the tactical-technical requirements and convening technical councils. It has been decided so far that the ship will be powered by a nuclear generator and will have a water displacement of around 50,000-60,000 tonnes,” said Shlemov.
He added that the ship will have a new aircraft that will replace the
Su-33. “It will be a fifth-generation jetfighter with classical vertical takeoff and landing,” he said.
The admiral added that in addition to aircraft and helicopters, the aircraft carrier will also have unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are already being designed in Russia, particularly by the
Vega concern.
Shlemov also said that the new warship will not be armed with cruise missiles, as has been the case with previous aircraft carriers.
“We have rejected the deployment of missiles, as the ship must carry out set tasks. If it is an aircraft carrier, then it should be designed for the landing and takeoff of aircraft, which are the main strike force,” the admiral said.
At least three such ships will be built and based at the Northern and Pacific fleets.
“The concept was to have one in the North and one in the Far East, while a third will be able to undergo repairs,” said the admiral.
The admiral did not exclude the possibility of increasing the number of such ships to six, depending on the needs and the capabilities of the national economy.
The only issue left to be solved is where the ships will be built, since such a ship had never been built at Russian shipyards.
“We are looking into two variants: the Baltiysk Factory and
Sevmash. The Baltiysk Factory has built civilian ships with a water displacement of up to 100,000 tonnes, while
Sevmash has experience in the construction of nuclear-powered ships. The best and less expensive project will win,” said Shlemov.
He noted that, during his visit to Severomorsk last year, President Dmitry Medvedev instructed the Defense Ministry to develop a program for the acquisition of aircraft carriers in order to begin actual construction in the coming years. He expressed hope that results could be seen by 2015. He also called for a quick decision on where the aircraft will be built.
Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, the commander of the Russian Navy, earlier told
Ria Novosti that, in perspective, the Northern and Pacific fleets were to possess 5-6 aircraft carrier groups. According to him, the command of the Russian navy has decided to build not just aircraft carriers for the fleets, but also aircraft carrier systems in which ships, the air group, the coast, sea, and space will work together as a whole.
The admiral said that scientific-research work was already underway on the first ship, and that such work will be followed by the testing-engineering stage.
The chairman of the Federation Council’s Commission on National Naval Policy, former Commander of the Northern Fleet Admiral Vyacheslav Popov, told
Ria Novosti that
Sevmash was the main candidate for the construction of aircraft carriers for the Russian Navy. He noted that
Sevmash was currently upgrading the aircraft carrier
Admiral Gorshkov for the Indian Navy. According to Popov, the modernization of the
Admiral Gorshkov was a source of invaluable experience for Sevmash and a strong argument to win the tender.
Sevmash’s general director, Nikolay Kalistratov, told
Ria Novosti that his factory could build the most advanced aircraft carriers with a water displacement of 70,000-80,000 tonnes. He stressed at the same time that to increase efficiency at the factory, new equipment and technology were needed. As an example, he announced that Sevmash had already installed a new cutting pad for the
Admiral Gorshkov. The cutting pad could be used in the construction of new aircraft carriers.
Kalistratov added that the cost of such a ship on the world market could amount to around $4 billion.
The director of the unmanned aerial vehicles complex at
Vega, Rear Admiral Arkady Syroezhko, told
Ria Novosti that the Russian Navy was strongly interested in
UAVs for intelligence-gathering. According to him, the navy no longer wants to be blind. He believes that an additional stimulus for the creation of a complex of sea-based UAVs in Russian is the beginning of construction of advanced aircraft carriers. He said has no doubt that, in addition to traditional aircraft and helicopters, the new aircraft carrier will have cutting-edge UAVs, including those from
Vega.
The Russian Navy has a single aircraft carrier, the
Admiral Kuznetsov, which is based at the Northern Fleet. It was built in 1985. It has more than 50 aircraft and helicopters. In addition to the multipurpose sea-based
Su-33, the
Admiral Kuznetsov has the
Ka-29 helicopter and its modification. The ship has a water displacement of 55,000 tonnes, has an autonomous range of 8,000 miles, a crew of 1,500, and a 650-strong aircrew. The ship can develop a cruising speed of 29 knots. It packs the anti-ship complex
Granit, the air-defense complexes
Kortik and
Klinok, and the antisubmarine complexes
Udar.
