Russia Reportedly Developing a Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier

The Vladivostok Mistral-class helicopter carrier docking at Saint-Nazaire harbor, western France, on Nov.14, 2014. (AP Photo/Laetitia Notarianni)

A report from a Russian state-run news agency this week is saying the country’s future aircraft carrier will be equipped with a nuclear reactor.

“The project of a future Russian aircraft carrier, or as it is sometimes referred to as naval aircraft carrying complex, is in the design phase. Research conducted by the Nevskoye Design Bureau indicates that the sole way of meeting the Navy’s requirements, such as power generation, sea endurance and voyage range is to equip the ship with a nuclear power plant,” a spokesperson with the United Shipbuilding Corporation has told the TASS agency.

The Nevskoye Design Bureau, which is Russia’s main designer for large surface vessels, builds civilian tankers, bulk cargo carriers, and heavy aircraft carriers.

But according to another report from Defense World, a Russian military official said Russia won’t start building a new carrier until after 2015.

“Work for creating an aircraft carrier has never stopped. The Navy has strict demands for an aircraft carrier,” the Russian Military official was quoted as saying by state-run media outlets, according to Defense World.

“But so far we don’t see anything in their demands that we can’t accomplish”, the Military official said. The most difficult thing right now is “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 official added.

The nuclear power unit for the aircraft carrier will be tested on Russia’s Lider-class destroyers.

“In early July, a shipbuilding industry source told TASS that the nuclear power generating facility for the propulsion system of Russia’s future aircraft carrier will be worked out on the Lider (Leader) class destroyer,” the TASS report states. “The Russian Navy plans in the future to obtain new aircraft carriers, but the timeframe for the construction this class of vessel is unknown. The Navy has said that a prospective aircraft carrier will be built no earlier than in 2030.”