Russia has unveiled a new aircraft carrier design.

At an annual Russian defence exhibition, the Krylov State Scientific Center unveiled concept for a new aircraft carrier.

The latest design to be unveiled. Image via TASS.

According to Russian state media, TASS, the ship if it’s ever built would have the following specs:

“According to the materials presented on the Nevskoye Design Bureau’s display stand, the aircraft carrier that will get a nuclear-powered propulsion unit will displace 80,000-90,000 tonnes, feature a maximum length of 350 meters, have sea endurance of about 120 days and will be capable of developing a speed of about 30 knots. The aircraft carrier will have a crew of 2,800 and its air task force will comprise 800 personnel. The carrier will have a service life of over 50 years.”

“There will be, of course, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier but not in the short-term perspective,” Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Adm. Nikolai Yevmenov said according to the state-run TASS News Agency.

These reflect earlier suggestions in Russian orientated defence news media that development of a new Russian carrier might not begin until well into the next decade, by which time, another dozen designs will likely have been unveiled.

Model of the Project 23000E 'Shtorm', Russia's prospective new carrier design
A previous design from a previous unveiling, image via Sputnik.

Last year, the Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia’s only aircraft carrier, was severely damaged when the massive dry dock it was being repaired in partially sank and a crane smashed into the vessels deck, more on that can be found here.

As mentioned above, a replacement is likely a long way off and the Jamestown Foundation argue that it will not be replaced with a more modern carrier for at least another 15 years—and quite possibly never.

 

George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison

59 COMMENTS

    • Gandalf,
      If the UK had any civil servants worth their salt, they would be hammering out a deal with the Yanks to relocate the F35 engine factory away from Turkey to the Uk. But after reading in the Guardian how a NI CS was awarded £10 K for hurt feelings for having to walk past pictures of the Queen, I fully understand that getting CS to actually work for the the country is beyond them:
      £10k for NI civil servant offended by royal portraits
      The Northern Ireland Office paid a senior civil servant £10,000 in compensation because he was offended at having to walk past portraits of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, it has been claimed. Lord Maginnis told the House of Lords the NIO made the “scandalous” payment in an apparent effort to salve the official’s “hurt feelings and distress”, and later promoted him.

      • Man…. I missed a trick. I wonder if I could get some kind of post traumatic walking past pictures of the Queen type thing. I’ve been a republican for years, even been made to sing the national anthem too… its all coming flooding back, I need to find my ‘happy place’.

        That’s absolutely nuts but tells you a lot about our society. “My feelings are hurt but can be assuaged by cash”.

        • It was the scouts that did for me…I’m an atheist for god sake and they made me promise to god……oooooooo the pain.

          • Dib Dob Dob-We will do our Duty for God and the Queen….or something like that. Difficult to remember the Cub pledge from 60 years ago!! Andy P,Jonathon-maybe the three of us should institute a Class Action against HMG-maybe could score a few bob!! 🙂

          • Oh aye, I’m an athiest too, was still made to go and see the padre in baby training. I’m going to be #loaded when this is all done and dusted. Some of my instructors even shouted at me, kerching !!!

      • Read that Farouk-beyond belief. Even by today’s standards that leaves me gobsmacked. Here in South Africa we have some bizarre examples like Civil Servants charged with corruption where the prima facie evidence against them is overwhelming yet they remain suspended on full pay for several years awaiting trial!!! Even though my roots are Northern Ireland Unionist Monarchist, I would never feel offended by having to walk past a Portrait of one of Ireland’s Presidents. They have in fact, including the incumbent, had some capable and fine human beings in the role!!
        World has gone mad…

      • I should get compensation for every time I see Corbyn and Abbott on TV. No one will ever be upset over the Irish President since no one knows who he/she is.

    • Gandalf wrote:
      I don’t see any missile silos on the deck. Are they moving away from the swiss knife approach?

      Google Project 11430E and go to images, the ship has one single row of VL missile tubes on either sides at the front.

    • Who will pick up the workshare and make the additional 900 parts?
      Will this slow the F-35 production rate further still?
      Who will take their allotted 100 F-35’s, or will the unit cost increase?

  1. They certainly need something to replace that, ‘Smokey Joe’ that coughed and wheezed its way past the UK recently. That image will stick with me, and I have to admit, changed my perspective on the current state of military health north of the Iron Curtain?

  2. Nuclear powered but an endurance of only 3 months?
    Would literally keep it close to Russian coast and unable to do worldwide deployments.

    • Its actually 4 months.. 120 days/30 lol. I’ll assume a type or just a brain fart, Hell I get them. that said it also states ‘sea endurance’ which while not technically an official thing is fairly well used to be the days the ship can spend at sea with out needing to stop at a port or to have a visit from a supply ship of any kind. I believe even the Nimitz class is around this time frame.

  3. I like the Hawkeye AWCC lookalikes on the deck… Will they ever build it? We’ll see. I think these things are aimed as much at China and the PLAN as NATO and the U.S. “We can build carriers too”!

    Cheers!

  4. Ok, lets say they do go ahead and decide to build this thing it’s quite large and will take ages to get to the initial build phase so it’s not like we don’t have time to work out a plan to counter it.
    Having just designed and built a couple of carriers the UK should know what’s possible for a carrier to do even if we didn’t have the cash to shove it all on I doubt they’ll turn up with secret wonder weapons like the flying aircraft carrier from Ace Combat.
    Even if they started final design now I can’t see it being operational for almost 10 years which will give us time to get our carriers in fantastic shape to counter.

  5. Considering they are having problems sourcing engines for their new frigates and do not have any yards bigger enough to build a carrier I suspect its just a pipe dream.

    • It looks to me that each model they make is getting bigger. If that continues, then maybe they are hoping to keep building them and so they end up with a real one by stealth.

  6. I love the backdrop to the model: “These are ships we have been building…now after mastering the river pleasure cruiser design, our next effort will be an 80,000 ton nuclear powered aircraft carrier. Please invest in us!”

      • Unlikely, the Chinese Carrier program is up to speed now and beyond where Russia is. They have the yards with the experience to build this class of vessel unlike Russia. They are currently building the Type 002 in a purpose built shipyard on Chanxing Island in Shanghai. The Type 002 will be a CATOBAR configured carrier and will initially operate an airgroup consisting of a J-15 variant adapted for catapult launch plus a new AEW&C type similar to the Hawkeye.

        • Some of the tech for Type 002, was stolen from the UK, a Chinese company brought a Lincolnshire based company making electronic bits, they built a copy of the factory in China for the PLA!

          • Yes that happened under the last Labour Government albeit it was sold rather than stolen, the IGBT chips needed to run an EMALs catapult was beyond Chinese industry.

            In 2008 the Chinese state owned company Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric purchased UK based Dynex Semiconductor (that was in financial trouble) that could manufacture these chips. The Department of Trade and Industry could have blocked the sale but declared they didn’t see it as a security risk.

            Upon buying the company the Chinese grabbed all the R&D and set up a new huge factory in Hunan province to make them.

            Ironically in 2009 IGBT chips were listed under category III of the UK Strategic Export Control List, as part of a wider EU Council Regulation 428/2009 on the security of sensitive technologies that have military applications!

  7. Something seems to be missing from their model… oh yes, where’s the sea going tug to tow it back to harbour when it breaks down?

  8. This is standard, company make concept model and basic design hoping navy/government is interested enough to fund further design work. But as most know we have no place big enough to build this yet and navy is bottom of list for defence money so will never happen

    • There’s nothing wrong with a nice model now and then, Keeps everyone perky. we’ve used it as a national coping strategy since the 1960s.

      • As long as it stays only as a model I’ll be happy, not waste any money in the real thing. I have still yet to hear a convincing argument on why we need a carrier at all

        • Good point Ulya ,but its the same with every thing putin wise .Its all for show for the motherland and deflect from Russias poor standing economically, china might be your saving grace.

          • As i said before Uyla a Russian has no place in patronising the BBC when Russias news media comes up with trash like RT and Sputnik ,but remember this Ulya liberalism is dead!!! hahahahaah.

  9. Now I thought that some folk on here were bad for fantasy fleets, but this is ridiculous! Wonder why the Russians don’t ask the Chinese for the plans for the American EMALS catapults, then they can progress past the ski jumps….

  10. Did they just take the island off a destroyer and think that will do, what more space can a carrier functions require?

  11. The Russians and new aircraft carriers that never get built is almost as tedious as Argentina about to procure new fighter jets that never get bought.

  12. Maybe the USSR aka Russia could sell it to India once they build it then, use it after 10 years like that other piece of junk they built.

  13. Ok, interesting design, they’ve gone back to the single citadel design and use a ski ramp and dual catapults. I agree the turn around time for using a ski ramp is faster than a catapult. But that comes with a penalty of decreased fuel or weapons load.
    Could you fit a ski ramp with a catapult, thus further increasing your take off weight?

    • More importantly catapult enables launch of e2d hawkeye and refuelling planes (and drones in next few years), which greatly expand the capabilities of an aircraft carrier

  14. This ship will never be built. The Russian state does not have the resources to join the strike carrier elite. Leave them to drag out the slow demise of the Khutznetsov class, heap of junk.

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