Russia to begin developing its first nuclear aircraft carrier 2023.

Russian R&D works scheduled to design and build Russia’s first nuclear aircraft carrier will begin in 2023 under the state armament programme, a Russian shipbuilding industry source told TASS.

The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the only (non-nuclear) aircraft carrier currently in service in the Russian Navy (Picture Source: UK MoD)

"The R&D works on a nuclear aircraft carrier have been included in the current state armament program lasting until 2027. They are due to begin in 2023," he said.

The source clarified the aircraft carrier would have a nuclear power unit. Its water displacement will be close to 70,000 tons. The source, however, did not say anything about the esteem value of the works or construction deadlines.

A representative of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) told TASS that it had not received any concrete work specifications from the Russian Defense Ministry for a nuclear aircraft carrier. At the same time, the USC noted that it had never stopped to develop proposals on new prospective ships, including the nuclear aircraft carrier. "The corporation’s enterprise will be ready to execute such an order if they receive it from the defence agency," the USC representative said.

Earlier, the Russian Navy said that the Russian Fleet hoped to receive a prospective nuclear-powered aircraft carrier by late 2030. The Russian Defense Ministry, in turn, noted that a construction contract for the nuclear aircraft carrier could be signed by late 2025.

The Russian Navy has only one aircraft carrier at the moment. It is the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft carrier with a non-nuclear power unit. The warship is undergoing repairs and modernization and is expected to be back in service in 2021.

The Soviet Union launched the construction of the Ulyanvosk nuclear aircraft carrier at a shipyard in Nikolayev. But the works stopped after the Soviet Union’s disintegration, while the aircraft carrier’s semi-finished hull was scrapped.

© Copyright 2019 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.