OREANDA-NEWS. Russia has offered India the joint construction of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, according to a source in the Indian Navy.

“A Russian military delegation offered India the Project 23000E ‘Storm’ (E stands for export-oriented, Eksportny) heavy aircraft carrier several weeks ago,” the Indian Navy source said. “The surface combatant is known to have a full displacement of about 100,000 tons and a price of about $5.7 billion. The proposed carrier has been jointly developed by the Krylov State Research Center (Russian acronym: KGNC) and the Nevskoye Design Bureau (Russian acronym: NPKB, a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation). The building of the Project 23000 ‘Storm’ aircraft carrier is supposed to take about 10-11 years.”

He added that India`s Ministry of Defence (MoD) would consider the Russian offer. “The MoD is planning to review it in strict accordance with the standard procedure. The final decision will be announced in late 2016,” the source added.

In May 2015, the Indian Navy allocated 300 million rupees ($4.5 million) to start design works on a new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier intended for the service. The ship is supposed to be named ‘Vishal’.

India is working closely with the United States to develop an aircraft carrier. In 2015, both countries established the US-India Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation (JWGACTC) to address the issue. The third meeting of the group is supposed to take place between August 9 and August 12 in Washington DC.