ZHUKOVSKY (Moscow Region), July 18. /TASS/. Russia’s Defense Ministry is in talks with aircraft builders to develop an advanced vertical take-off and landing fighter jet for a future aircraft cruiser on the basis of planes produced by the Yakovlev Company, Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said on Tuesday.

"The Defense Ministry’s plans … somewhere at the finish of the state armament program for 2018-2025 envisage the commencement of the construction of a new aircraft cruiser and, of course, a new generation of aircraft will emerge by that time," Borisov said.

"Today, Su-33 and MiG-29 aircraft are the backbone of aircraft carriers, specifically, the Admiral Kuznetsov. The Defense Ministry’s plans envisage developing an advanced short take-off and landing aircraft and, possibly, a vertical take-off and landing plane, and we are discussing this with our aircraft-building companies," he said at the MAKS-2017 international airshow outside Moscow.

"This is the development of the Yakovlev family of aircraft that was terminated. Such plans exist and we are discussing them, including the possible development of these areas for an advanced plane for aircraft carriers," he said.