Russia is now planning to build its own helicopter-equipped landing ships, following the collapse in 2014 of the deal to buy two Mistral-class warships from France. A scale model of the design was displayed at the recent International Maritime and Defense Show (IMDS’2017) in St. Petersburg. A scale model of a large, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was also displayed, but the Russian navy is thought to favor building a smaller aircraft carrier.
The scale models were displayed by the State Scientific Center named after Krylov, a think-tank on future warships for the Russian navy. The 23,000-metric-ton landing ship design is labeled the Priboi, and would carry 10-12 Kamov Ka-52K Katran naval strike helicopters. The Ka-52K was originally developed for the Mistral-class warships. They have now been sold to Egypt, which has ordered about 50 Ka-52s in both land- and ship-based versions.
The Priboi is powered by a gas turbine and features a characteristic “half trimaran” layout with a flight deck measured 200 x 34 meters. Although the Priboi is still only a concept, it has already won endorsement from vice-admiral Victor Bursuk, the Russian navy commander responsible for procurement. He said at IMDS’2017 that the navy would receive two such ships by 2025. The concept would be developed into a draft design “within months,” he added. Krylov is offering an export version of the Priboi that uses diesel-electric propulsion.
Since development of the Ka-52K is far more advanced than the Priboi, the Russian navy may choose to initially operate this helicopter from the Ivan Gren, a smaller (6,600-metric-ton) landing ship which is now undergoing sea trials.
Krylov has also developed the Shtorm (Storm) concept for a large nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (displacement 100,000 tons). However, this expensive ship - estimated costs with aircraft included reportedly comes to 350 billion Roubles ($5.8 billion) - does not seem appealing to the navy. At IMDS’2017 Bursuk said funding for development work on a new aircraft carrier will be provided in the State Armament Program 2018-2025, a draft of which is being prepared for governmental validation due later this year. Bursuk hinted that the Shtorm is not under consideration by saying “we are making extra efforts to determine shape and specification of the future aircraft carrier”.
In response, Krylov’s center is offering “a smaller, cheaper carrier” that might cost one third the price of the previous concept, while having “almost the same air wing” (about 60 aircraft). The developer admits it has yet to win the navy’s approval of that new concept. The latter is described to be comparable in size to the Admiral Kuznetsov, the only operational carrier with the Russian navy. The new concept is for a ship with conventional propulsion of four gas-turbines to attain top speed of 25 knots. This is considered sufficient to support takeoffs and landings of MiG-29K/KUB multirole fighters already in service and a yet-to-be-developed navalized version of the Sukhoi T-50/PAKFA.
Since the PAKFA has been selected as the base to develop exportable Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) jointly with India, Moscow wants New Delhi to consider a navalized version of this jet for future carriers of the Indian navy. The latter operates the ex-Russian carrier INS Vikramaditya, and expects its indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant to enter service next year. India’s third carrier is viewed as a much larger ship armed with either the Dassault Rafale-M or the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, but this might change if Moscow offers something better.
