Work on the return to service of the flagship of the Russian Navy has been suspended
The Russian Ministry of Defense may refuse to restore the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, Izvestia found out. Currently, its repair and modernization have been suspended, sources told the publication. The Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and the United Shipbuilding Corporation will soon have to decide the fate of the flagship of the Russian fleet. A morally and physically obsolete aircraft carrier may be decommissioned and sent for disposal, experts do not exclude. Their opinions on the need to have such ships in the Navy are divided: some say that they cannot be dispensed with, while others consider aircraft carriers to be a relic of the past. The Admiral Kuznetsov has been undergoing modernization since 2017, while the largest floating dock in the Russian Federation sank during repairs, and a large fire broke out on the aircraft carrier.
Does the Russian Navy need Admiral Kuznetsov
Work on the repair and modernization of the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft carrier was suspended some time ago, informed sources told Izvestia. In the near future, representatives of the General Command of the Navy and the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) will decide whether it is advisable to continue these works on the Admiral Kuznetsov and return it to the fleet, the interlocutors said.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Pavel Lvov
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Izvestia sent a request to the USC. The corporation replied that these issues fall within the competence of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. No responses have been received from the Ministry of Defense and the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy at the time of publication.
A possible decision to stop repairs would be absolutely correct, Admiral Sergei Avakyants, ex-commander of the Pacific Fleet, told Izvestia. In his opinion, the Russian Navy does not need Admiral Kuznetsov, even if modernization is carried out.
— In the future, the Russian navy does not need aircraft carriers in a classic form. The aircraft carrier is already a passing era. A huge, expensive structure that can be destroyed in a few minutes with modern weapons. — the admiral believes. — This is a very expensive and inefficient naval weapon. The future belongs to the carriers of robotic systems and unmanned aircraft. And the Admiral Kuznetsov, if it is decided not to continue the repair, it remains only to take it, cut it into scrap metal and dispose of it.
Photo: TASS/Lev Fedoseev
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The need for certain ships is largely determined by strategic planning documents, in particular, the "Fundamentals of state policy in the field of naval activities until 2030," Rear Admiral of the reserve Mikhail Chekmasov told Izvestia. They say that it is necessary to have an aircraft carrier connection in the Northern and Pacific Fleets.
— The question is about financing, given that a special military operation is currently underway. The main thing now is to win in the SVR, and then it will be clear what needs to be built further. I think the issue of creating aircraft carriers is somehow present in the ship construction program for the period up to 2050, which was recently reviewed by the Presidential Maritime Board," the rear admiral believes.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexey Maishev
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Despite the development of unmanned systems, including surface and underwater ones, aviation cover cannot be dispensed with on long-range hikes, military expert Captain 1st rank Vasily Dandykin believes.
— Of course, the case of the Admiral Kuznetsov is difficult: it takes a long time to repair, there were problems, there was a fire, — he told Izvestia. — But the fact that now many countries, including India and China, are developing an aircraft carrier fleet, suggests that such ships are needed. How our decision will be made is at the discretion of the top management and the commander—in-chief of the fleet. We have manned naval aviation. This is the elite of aviation.
Ilya Kramnik, an employee of the IMEMO RAS Center for Strategic Planning Studies, also believes that aircraft carriers are necessary for the Russian navy. For the reason that a modern fleet is unthinkable without the support of aviation, and the absence of aircraft carriers means that everything comes down to the support of coastal aviation.
Photo: TASS/Press Service and Information Department of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
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— When ships go thousands of miles into the ocean, it is either very difficult or almost impossible to get support from the shore. The fleet needs an airfield with them, and this is an aircraft carrier," he explained to Izvestia.
Ilya Kramnik admitted that there is an opinion in military circles that further modernization and repair of the Admiral Kuznetsov is impractical. The fact is that this is a rather old ship, it served in not the best years for our fleet, which did not add to its "youth". In particular, the expert drew attention to the fact that the cruiser has a rather ancient design and not the most reliable power plant, as shown by operational experience.
— The ship has been on the water since 1985, in 10 years it will be 50. Even if it lasts until 2040, it won't last long. Therefore, taking into account the experience gained during the operation of the Admiral Kuznetsov, it is necessary to build another ship. We can do this, we have shipyards that allow us to build ships of this size," Kramnik believes.
Photo: TASS/Vladimir Smirnov
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At the same time, it is not necessary for a promising ship to be the size of the Kuznetsov, it may be smaller, which increases the choice of locations for its construction and future basing, the expert continued.
"We currently do not have a promising carrier—based fighter the size of the Su-33, which is a very large aircraft," he explained. — Our whole perspective boils down, apparently, either to the deck-based Su-75, when it is created, and if its marine version is created, or to the purchase of promising Chinese J-35 machines. Both planes are smaller than the Su-33, and you can make do with a smaller ship. It is also possible to purchase an AWACS deck aircraft from China, the independent development of which may take a long time. Of course, Chinese aircraft must be adapted to our equipment.
Most importantly, the ship must have a standard gas turbine power plant based on those units that are installed on our frigates, or a nuclear power plant based on an icebreaker, and, if possible, standard standard electronic equipment and means of defense against current threats, from missiles to unmanned boats, the expert explained.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexey Nikolsky
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"This will make it possible to create a ship on production units relatively inexpensively and quickly, if such a task is set," he explained. — What is the fate of the Kuznetsov in this case? India or China will no longer be interested in it. It would be tempting to consider a museum ship based on it, but first it would be good to put in order, in particular, the wonderful museum cruiser Mikhail Kutuzov, which is in disrepair in Novorossiysk. So the Kuznetsov is most likely to be scrapped, and its name may be transferred to a new ship.
How the Admiral Kuznetsov was repaired
Admiral Kuznetsov became the fifth ship of Project 1143, a series of heavy aircraft—carrying cruisers with advanced deck aircraft. In the USSR, they began to build them in the early 1970s. In the autumn of 1982, a ship was laid down in Nikolaev, which changed its name several times during construction: Leonid Brezhnev, Tbilisi, and finally Admiral Kuznetsov of the Fleet of the Soviet Union.
Izvestia reference
The fate of the project 1143 cruisers.
The first aircraft carriers in the Soviet Union were Kiev (commissioned in 1975), Minsk (1978), Novorossiysk (1982) and Admiral Gorshkov (1987).
At about the same time as Admiral Kuznetsov, the cruisers Varyag and Ulyanovsk began to be built.
Their fate turned out differently.
In 1993, Kiev, Minsk and Novorossiysk were decommissioned almost simultaneously.
"Kiev" was then sold to China, where it was turned into a museum.
In 1995, the Minsk was towed to South Korea for cutting into metal. But the Chinese outbid the ship and turned it into a Minsk World attraction. However, it was later sent for recycling anyway.
Novorossiysk was sold to South Korea in 1997, where it was cut up for metal.
Admiral Gorshkov was upgraded in the 2000s and sold to India. He serves in the Navy of this country under the name Vikramaditya.
The construction of the Varyag was suspended in 1991. It was later sold to China. Its construction was completed there and in 2012, under the name Liaoning, it became part of the PLA fleet.
Ulyanovsk was never completed — it was dismantled on the slipway in 1992.
The ship's armament included, among other things, P-700 Granit missiles. As a result, the Kuznetsov was classified as a "heavy aircraft carrier." According to one version, this was done to circumvent the provision of the Montreux Convention on the status of the Black Sea Straits, which prohibited the passage of "clean" aircraft carriers through them. As a result, the Admiral Kuznetsov could safely enter the Black Sea and base itself in Sevastopol.
Photo: TASS newsreel/ A. Kremco
Image source: iz.ru
The ship was transferred to the USSR Navy on December 25, 1990. The ship has made seven voyages in its history. In November 2016 – January 2017, the cruiser took part in combat operations for the first time. The ship's carrier-based fighters attacked terrorist positions in Syria. The pilots of the air group carried out more than 400 sorties, hitting over 1,2 thousand terrorist targets. After returning from the cruise, the ship was sent for repairs and modernization.
Initially, it was planned to return the ship to service in 2022, but the dates were repeatedly postponed. Moreover, several incidents occurred during the repair. In October 2018, the PD-50 floating dock sank. The aircraft carrier was damaged by the fall of a dock crane, but remained afloat. It was towed to the berth of the 35th shipyard in Severomorsk.
The heavy aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov was towed to the 35th SRZ after the incident at the 82nd SRZ, as a result of which the PD-50 floating dock partially sank.
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Maxim Jaravin
In December 2019, a fire started on board the ship: during welding work, a spark got into the hold, where fuel was spilled. As a result, two people were killed and 14 injured. In August 2020, USC CEO Alexey Rakhmanov reported that it would take up to 350 million rubles to restore the ship after the fire.
A fire was also reported at the end of 2022, but there were no casualties. In 2023, the dock repairs on the underwater part of the ship were completed. At the same time, it was reported that a crew had begun to be recruited for the Kuznetsov.
In July last year, the FSB reported on the foiled terrorist attack on the cruiser. According to the department, in March 2024, an employee of the Ukrainian special services contacted a Russian who served on an aircraft carrier through a messenger. He tried to persuade the soldier to commit a terrorist act and promised evacuation to Finland, but the soldier contacted the competent authorities.
Maxim Manaev
Timofey Volkov
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