"The armament program of up to 2010 does not provide for construction of aircraft carriers, but a program that would be drawn up for after 2010 will envision designing and building more sophisticated ones," Vladimir Kuroyedov said late Thursday.

"Of course, we need aircraft carriers. But we must yet define how many and what kind we need, where we need them, and whether the industry is ready for their production," Kuroyedov explained.

Russia currently operates one aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, which can carry up to 52 aircraft, including SU-33 Flanker planes and KA-27 helicopters, as well as 1,960 crew and an air wing of 626 people.

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