Russia To Start Construction Of New Aircraft Carrier After 2025, Build 8 Patrol Ships By 2020

Russia plans to start construction of an aircraft carrier after 2025, the Russian TASS news agency reported Monday, citing a source in the country’s military industrial complex. The revelation followed recent reports of a broken contract worth $1.3 billion between Russia and France for two Mistral-class helicopter carriers.

The source also revealed that the designing of the aircraft carrier has already begun, and the construction would probably be completed before 2030. In May, Oleg Bochkaryov, deputy chairman of the Military Industrial Commission, reportedly revealed Russia’s plan to build its own helicopter carrier.

The most difficult task is designing the future ship, which includes “coordinating what the Russian Navy needs and what industry can offer with regard to the fact that the air carrier should meet the requirements not of yesterday and today, but of tomorrow,” the military source told TASS, referring to the upcoming, home-grown aircraft carrier. “The Russian Navy makes very stringent requirements on how the aircraft carrier should look, but we do not see anything that we can’t do in those requirements.”

Meanwhile, Russian Navy Commander Viktor Chirkov also announced Monday that the country will build a new series of six patrol ships for the Black Sea Fleet and two similar vessels for the Arctic by 2020. According to Chirkov, the construction of the ships is going on at the Zelenodolsk and Vyborg shipyards.

“The ships will be able of long-term staying at any area of the World Ocean with possible rotation of the crew and shipyard checks at any port, including some foreign ports,” TASS quoted Chirkov as saying.

Chirkov also said that the Russian Navy will complete modernization of nearly 10 nuclear-powered submarines. Last week, Vladimir Dorofeyev, CEO of the Malakhit Marine Engineering Design Bureau, said that Russia will build seven Yasen-class nuclear “stealthiest submarines” by 2023.

“Surface ships and submarines will be built under a technology to make it easier to equip them with new weapons when necessary,” Chirkov said.