“It will take up to ten years to wrap up the construction of the flagship carrier, which will include a whole system of state tests,” Kozhin said.
He added that the aircraft-related research work is now under way and that several projects related to the vessel's construction are already on the table.
Earlier, the Russian Navy's Deputy Commander on Armament Victor Bursuk said that the new aircraft carrier would be built after 2030.
A number of experts believe that the construction of a new ship of this class will begin after the completion of the ongoing reconstruction of the Sevmash shipyards.
Right now, Sevmash workers are dealing with the overhaul and modernization of a heavy nuclear missile cruiser, the Admiral Nakhimov, the cruiser Peter the Great and the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov.
Meanwhile, India has proposed servicing a Russian-built aircraft carrier delivered to the country last month together with Russia’s Sevmash shipyard over the next 40 years, the shipbuilder said Thursday.
Sevmash said the current servicing contract is for 20 years, but that Indian naval officials have proposed to extend that timeframe.
“Our Indian partners have proposed to conduct all service work on the ship together with Sevmash,” the White Sea-based shipbuilder said.
The Vikramaditya was ceremonially handed over to India in November, but only departed from Russia in December, and arrived safely at its new home port Karwar last month.
Sevmash representatives are scheduled to visit India next month as part of an intergovernmental military cooperation commission.
The two countries have longstanding military ties and, among other projects, have cooperated on the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile and the fifth-generation PAK-FA jet fighter still under development.
Source: Sputnik
