The Age of Drones: The first aircraft carrier for drones since the Cold War is being built in the Black Sea (photo)
For the first time since the Cold War, an aircraft carrier class ship will be built in the Black Sea, intended for the Portuguese Navy, reports Defence-ua.com.
The order for it was placed with the Dutch Damen Shipyards Group, which developed it.
The ship itself is classified by the Portuguese as a Multifunctional Naval Platform, but by the developers as a Multi-Purpose Support Ships. In any case, according to the company, this is a ship that can have a displacement of 7000 to 9000 tons, and a length of 100 to 130 meters with a width of 20 meters.
The aircraft carrier has a traditional flight deck with an offset “island” and a large under-deck space, as well as a docking chamber. The positioning of such a ship as a multi-platform rather than a universal landing ship is due to the fact that it should be a carrier of drones rather than helicopters.
The latter should be either vertical takeoff or launched from a catapult. The 650-meter cargo deck can accommodate about 12 standardized containers with various equipment.
The ship is planned to be built at Damen Shipyards Galați in Galati, Romania, in the lower Danube region, according to the Romanian publication Profit.
Thus, this ship will be the first aircraft carrier since the Cold War to be built on the Black Sea. Before that, aircraft carriers and helicopter carriers were built on the Black Sea only in Mykolaiv.
