Russia to lay down new heavy aircraft-carrier in 2025
revive vertical takeoff/landing (VTOL) shipborne fighter jets
development of shipboard plane, possibly a vertical takeoff fighter
Project 2300 Shtorm heavy aircraft-carrier
full complement aircraft, air defense, cruise missiles
new carrier’s deck size of three football fields
house 4,000 crew members.
330-meter long Shtorm a revival of Soviet-era supercarrier Ulyanovsk
100,000-ton displacement
up to 90 fixed and rotary wing aircraft.
Shtorm will have endurance of 120 days, maximum speed 30 knots.
new aircraft carrier will carry STOVL aircraft
carrier able to operate in Arctic
will have electromagnetic catapults
arming Shtorm with battery of hypersonic Zirkon missiles
Russia currently relies on Admiral Kuznetsov carrier, launched 1985.
However its capabilities pale in comparison to the Shtorm.
Here is a scale model of the 'Shtorm':
My comments : This new aircraft carrier will not begin construction until 2025 - another eight years away. It may take years after that for completion and commissioning into the Russian Navy. I believe by that time the Chinese would have built at least THREE more aircraft carriers.
In this new design, note the SPLIT "islands" on the carrier's flight deck (in the model above). This design is similar to the latest Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy. They are much smaller. One is most likely the flight operations tower and the other is the ship operations tower. The smaller size and the space in between the "islands" allows for carrying more aircraft.
I believe one day aircraft carriers will not have any 'islands' or control towers on the flight decks at all.
Aircraft carriers are useful for power projection and where the theatre of war, conflict zone or area of strategic and military interest are separated by seas and oceans. Historically Russia has never been an "aircraft carrier" power.
The simple reason being Russia's huge landmass and its vast distances, the country stretches maybe 1/4 of the way around the world. Russia remains the largest country on Earth.
With such a vast land mass there was no need for Russia to acquire aircraft carriers. Russian airbases from the border with China, Mongolia, Kamchatka to the Arctic and to Finland could provide air cover against any air incursion into Russia or strike vast areas outside Russia.
The now famous Russian cruise missile strike into Syria in October 2015 was done from Russian Navy missile ships sailing on the Caspian Sea, about 1000 miles from Syria. The Caspian Sea is partly Russian territory.
However there are areas like the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific which are becoming increasingly important for Russia.
I doubt there will be large scale wars between the superpowers like Russia, America or China. But there will be highly intense 'low intensity' conflicts like Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Balochistan etc.
Suicide bombers, IEDs, beheadings using swords, throwing grenades, shooting with pistols and AK47 rifles will be the order of the century.
Reports say that over the past few weeks 40,000 civilians have been killed in the liberation of Mosul from the ISIS. That is a high number of casualties yet it was not a full fledged war with mass movement of regiments, divisions, tanks or armour. It is a low intensity conflict involving suicide bombers, IEDs, beheadings, snipers, blowing things up etc. Yet 40,000 people have died.
There will be more of such conflicts in that part of the world.
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