MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/. Ship designers are advancing the blueprint for a new-generation, multi-purpose warship to join Russia’s navy.

Features of the planned corvette are still under wraps but the vessel is thought likely to carry a helicopter-type Gorizont drone within its armoury.

Planners at Russia’s Central Marine Engineering Design Bureau Almaz and United Shipbuilding Corporation expect the keel to be laid next year, possibly at St. Petersburg’s Severny shipyard though it is still unconfirmed.

“As technical design is in progress I will not reveal the features of this new vessel but it is a multi-purpose warship and an essentially new project,” Igor Zakharov, Almaz deputy general designer, told TASS.

Multiple tasks will be built into its design specification, he added, noting that the issue of stationing a drone on board “is advancing not as quickly as we want it to.