Military

Krylov State Research Center - 23000E Shtorm

Ruslan PUKHOV, member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), noted in a July 05, 2018 interview with the weekly Zvezda and the Army Standard magazine that the new State Arms Program for 2018–2027 seems to have "eliminated excessive inclination towards spending on the Navy, and the construction of the most expensive large surface ships has been prudently transferred to the future. The largest surface ships under construction will remain frigates.... It’s scary to think about what funds will be required and how long it will take to build the “monster-shaped” Leader destroyers or the giant Storm aircraft carrier.... The funds released as a result of the rejection of naval gigantomania and projection must be invested in control systems, reconnaissance and communications, drones and new armored platforms."

By the turn of the century it was said that the fleet should receive six full-fledged carrier strike groups, each of which will include an aircraft carrier, escort forces and auxiliary vessels. Three AUGs will be based in the North, three in the Pacific Fleet. Such a fleet size will make it possible to constantly keep two aircraft-carrying ships on alert, two more will be on alert, and two will undergo repairs or modernization.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has begun work on the formation of a tactical-technical assignment (TTZ) for a promising Russian aircraft carrier; it is already known that it will be nuclear. This was announced on 13 June 2019 by a source in the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation. “The TTZ on the new aircraft-carrying complex is currently being formed and has not yet been sent to the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC),” the TASS source said without specifying the deadlines for the completion of this work. The source added that it is precisely known that the ship will be atomic, since "the Ministry of Defense and the Main Command of the Navy are of the same opinion in this respect - the new aircraft carrier must have a nuclear power plant."

Earlier, a source in the shipbuilding industry told TASS that research and development work on the creation of the first Russian nuclear aircraft carrier will begin in 2023. The head of USC, Alexei Rakhmanov, told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 6 that the corporation is “more than ready” to build an atomic aircraft carrier. According to him, the development and construction of the aircraft carrier, according to the world trend, fits into 15 years. USC enterprises from Baltzavod to Severnaya Verf, in particular, Sevmash, can do this.

By 2018 the Russian Navy was considerating options for a new aircraft carrier. One option focused on a conventionally powered vessel with a displacement of around 70,000 tons. This would be slightly larger than the 58,600-67,500 tons full load Project 1143.5 Admiral Kuznetsov. The other option would be nuclear powered, and might have a rather larger displacement. This would certainly be larger than the 42,000 ton Charles de Gaulle, but possibly not as large as the 100,000 ton American supercarriers.

The new "Shtorm" aircraft carrier – a.k.a. Project 23000E – will be included in Russia’s next armament program for the 2019 to 2025 period. The aircraft carrier will go into service in the navy by 2030 and experts say that its potential base will be Severomorsk (1,880 km north of Moscow). The area of the take-off deck will be equivalent to three football fields. The deck will contain four lanes of various lengths, as well as a mixed launching system comprising springboard and springboard-catapulting.

Due to the absence of weapon systems aboard the aircraft carrier it will be guarded by about ten ships including frigates, destroyers, cruisers, and submarines. Tentatively conventionally propelled, ti is possible it might use nuclear propulsion. Two RITM-200 nuclear engines would help Shtorm accelerate to 30 knots (30 mph or 55 km/h). The ship's overall displacement would be 100,000 tons and its draft 11 meters. The ship's crew will be about 4,000 strong. Shtorm's deck will carry MiG-29K fighter jets and the naval version of the fifth-generation T-50 plane.

The State Unitary Enterprise "Krylov Shipbuilding Research Institute" [KSC] is the largest shipbuilding research center in Russia and ensures design and construction of naval ships, commercial vessels and other marine structures complying with international standards.

Krylov State Research Center (KRSC) came up with a scale model of a new aircraft carrier known as 23000E Shtorm (Storm), daily newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported 14 May 2015.

In addition to aircraft carriers built for the Russian Navy, the developers created an export version of the ship, which might be extremely interesting to many foreign customers. The ship's power plant will be either a conventional power plant or a nuclear one, depending on potential customers' requirements, Rossiyskaya Gazeta said.

The developer of the concept gives the following information. "The multi-purpose aircraft carrier is designed to conduct combat operations in the far sea and ocean areas, including the destruction of enemy ground and sea targets. It is also capable of ensuring the combat stability of naval naval forces and covering the naval forces and the forces of its landing from attacks and attacks by enemy air attacks. "

The shipbuilding elements of this aircraft carrier are the following: displacement of 95-100 thousand tons, length 330 meters, width 40, draft 11. The ship has a top speed of 30 kt and a sea-keeping performance of up to grade 7. Full speed 30 knots, autonomy 120 days, crew - from four to five thousand people. The ship's service life will be up to 50 years. The aircraft wing consists of 80-90 shipborne aircraft for various purposes, including the MiG-29K / KUB and the deck version of the fifth generation fighter PAK-FA. The main positive quality of the "Storm" is the tremendous strike power of its aviation.

"Storm" can carry 90 deck-based aircraft for various combat missions. The carrier has two ramps and two electromagnetic catapults to launch aircraft from its deck. To defend itself from aerial attacks, the aircraft carrier has air-defense missile and anti-torpedo defense systems.

Valery Polyakov, the deputy director of KSC, pointed out that these specifications are subject to change, correction, and modification during the ship's design and development at every stage of work, once potential customers come up with a demand to change the weapons package and equipment.

Russia’s defense and industrial sector is developing a prospective aircraft carrier for the Navy worth up to $5.6 billion, which has no analogs in the world, Northern Fleet Commander, Admiral Vladimir Korolyov said on 01 June 2015. The new aircraft carrier will enable the Russian Navy to operate more effectively, the admiral said, referring to the developments by the Krylov Research State Center in St. Petersburg but gave no estimates for the new ship.

The center’s developments are known under the codename Project 23000E Storm. "Considering that the Northern Fleet forces perform a great variety of missions in the distant Oceanic zone, the presence of an aircraft carrier in the fleet in the future will help address these tasks more effectively," the admiral said.

Currently, the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft carrier bears the main load for the practical drills of deck-based aircraft, the commander said. ‘In a perspective, however, we should have a full-fledged aircraft carrier complex in our fleet surpassing world analogs by its characteristics. This is required by new challenges and threats emerging in the world," the admiral said. "If we speak about what kind of an aircraft carrier the fleet needs, this should be a ship corresponding to the requirements of tomorrow rather than of today," the Northern Fleet commander said.

In February 2018, comments by the head of the Institute of Shipbuilding and Armament of the Military Science and Training Center of the Navy of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, Nikolai Maksimov, appeared in several dozen of news and analytical sources. A prospective aircraft carrier with a displacement of more than 100 thousand tons will receive a 4-position launch system, represented by a 2-trampoline complex and a complex of two electromagnetic catapults, which will ensure the aircraft carrier the unique operational efficiency of wing operations, even in arctic latitudes. The very same air wing (naval fighter regiment), consisting of 90-100 aircraft and helicopters, in the future, not only promising multifunctional MiG-29KUB fighters equipped with new on-board radar systems "Zhuk-AE" and "Zhuk-AME", but also slightly weighted deck version of the prospective Su-57 aviation complex with a strengthened chassis and airframe design.

The possible introduction of PAK-FA into the structure of the wing of the "Storm" was announced by Valentin Belonenko, the head of the department for designing surface ships of the Krylov State Research Center. The Su-57K would be the first in the history of deck aviation to be a heavy multi-purpose fighter of the 5th generation, because in 1993 Lockheed Martin and Boeing curtailed the work on the project of the deck modification of the Raptor "With variable geometry of the AX wing (A/FX) in favor of a cheaper F/A-18E/F "Super Hornet".

As of April 2018, the Krylov State Research Center, part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, developed a new project for a new aircraft carrier, which was also offered for the Russian fleet. Project 23000 was named "Storm". The sketch assumes that the ship will have a displacement of 80-90 thousand tons, it will be equipped with a combined power plant (both an atomic reactor and a gas turbine engine), the air group of the ship must number up to 60 units.

By the end of 2018, the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) will submit for consideration to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation a few finalized drafts of a new domestic aircraft carrier. In the case of a positive decision on one of the options, development work on the ship could begin in 2019, a source in the defense industry said 16 May 2018. "USC has been instructed to submit its finalized proposals (to the aircraft carrier - TASS comment) to the RF Defense Ministry for consideration by the end of the year .One of the options, in particular, involves the construction of an aircraft carrier with a displacement of 75,000 tons," the agency interlocutor said.

The source explained that, in the case of a positive decision on one of the projects, "the technical design of the ship, the preparation of design documentation can begin in 2019, the aircraft carrier can be laid in 2021-2022, its construction, according to preliminary estimates, will last about 10 years". The interlocutor added that the state program of armaments for 2018-2027 provides for "initial financing" under the program of a new aircraft carrier.

The Russian Navy has launched work to develop a nuclear propulsion system for a next-generation aircraft carrier and is already working on the warship’s project, Navy Shipbuilding Chief Rear Admiral Vladimir Tryapichnikov told Zvezda TV Channel on 24 August 2018. "This is a very complex issue. It is, indeed, being worked out today by the design bureaus of the United Shipbuilding Corporation. It is also being decided by shipyards as capacities are needed to create such a warship," the rear admiral said, replying to a question about whether the Navy needed a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

The Russian Navy’s research institutes are also working on this issue, he said. "Today, an engine has been launched [the research work on its creation has been launched] and today we are working precisely on this issue. Some concept will be approved in the near future. Of course, this is expensive but such a ship should be built," the rear admiral stressed. The Navy’s shipbuilding chief also said that a new-generation aircraft carrier "should be modern and be able to accomplish its assigned missions." "Such a decision will be made in the near future," the rear admiral said.

As the Russian Navy said earlier, the Fleet expects to get a next-generation nuclear-powered aircraft carrier displacing no less than 70,000 tonnes by late 2030. The Nevskoye design bureau is Russia’s sole research institute designing aircraft carriers.