Russia deployed a nuclear icebreaker to the Arctic, looking like it came out of Star Wars

At first glance, you might mistakenly think that this is a spacecraft's design from the Star Wars franchise. But this future ship is actually a Russian nuclear icebreaker project.

The icebreaker called "Leader" is designed to keep the North Seaway, along the Arctic coast, always clear.

The plan was revealed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

Rogozin, 52, who has been in charge of Russia's defense industry since 2011, revealed that the new icebreaker will be named Leader.

It will work at 110 MW and is capable of cutting through ice cubes deep up to 4m.

The spacecraft design of the Russian Leader icebreaker project.

The ship can also plow through 2m-thick ice at a speed of 29km / h.

Leader allows to carry a large amount of liquefied natural gas up to 300,000 tons via the North Sea route in any season.

This project is being developed at the Krylov State Research Center, the second city of St Petersburg in northwestern Russia.

Mr. Rogozin said the goal was to build a main icebreaker and two reserve icebreakers, to replace the icebreakers that had been operating since the Soviet era.

With a unique design that does not follow the traditional design, this will bring the new most capable mobile icebreaker in the world, he added.

Northern sea routes are entirely in the Arctic Sea, from the Kara Sea, through Siberia and to Bering Strait. Only some areas do not freeze for a short period of 2 months / year.

Russia's largest icebreaker is launched, which can break 4m thick ice sheets and sink 4m deep.

In June, the Russian side launched the largest icebreaker ever, the Arktika, in hopes of maintaining national defense and Arctic navigation.

The giant icebreaker was 178m long and 40m wider, according to Sputnik News, it was capable of breaking 3m thick ice and sinking 4m deep.

When the ship was launched, Sergey Kiriyenko, Rosatom's chief executive, said: "The launch of the Arktika is a victory on all sides. Today, we can say that by the end of 2017, this ship will participate in Rosatomflot ".

"Basically, this will open up many opportunities ahead in maintaining national defense and navigating the North Sea highway year-round, ensuring economic development in an important area of ​​Russia. and the whole world ".

It is not yet clear whether the Leader ship will participate in Rosatomflot and when it will be built.