Aircraft Carriers Too Expensive For Russian Navy

It seems that the US Navy does not need to worry about new Russian aircraft carriers for at least 10 years.

The Russian military has conceded that it lacks the funds to deploy a powerful new armada of aircraft carriers and that no more would be built for at least 10 years.

The admission comes as a quick rebuttal to remarks by an unnamed military source cited in a string of local news reports that Russia was set to begin construction of new aircraft carriers.

The admission debunks earlier remarks, also, by Russia's navy head Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky that a technical project for an advanced aircraft carrier would be ready by the end of the year.

What's more, Russian navy experts divulged greater details of the project at the time, saying a new aircraft carrier would be nuclear powered and would have a displacement of 50,000-60,000 tons.

This week, however, an unnamed senior official in Russia's Defense Ministry told Interfax news agency that the state armament program for 2011-20 did "not envision the construction of aircraft carriers."

By: Shelldrake