They want to scrap Russia's only aircraft carrier. What tasks did Admiral Kuznetsov perform and why was it no longer needed?

Kostin: There is no point in repairing the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier

The aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, which remains the only aircraft carrier of the Russian Navy, may be scrapped. Andrey Kostin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), told Kommersant about the senselessness of repairs.

Earlier in July, Izvestia sources reported that work on the repair and modernization of the ship had been suspended some time ago. Representatives of the Main Command of the Navy and the USC planned to determine the feasibility of further work on the aircraft carrier.

Admiral Kuznetsov has been under repair since 2017

The cruiser was sent for repairs in 2017. It was believed that after the completion of the work, the ship's service life would be extended by ten years. During the repair, it was planned to replace the flight deck, power equipment and power plant. They also wanted to deprive the ship of the P-700 anti-ship missiles of the Granit complex. In addition, Admiral Kuznetsov could receive Pantsir-M anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems and a new air defense control system.

Admiral Kuznetsov on the territory of the shipyard.
Source: Pavel Lvov / RIA Novosti

In 2022, Alexey Rakhmanov, who served as general director of USC, said that the repair and modernization of Admiral Kuznetsov were going according to plan. In July 2024, sources in the Russian Defense Ministry reported that regiments had begun to be formed for the aircraft carrier. The pilots conducted training over the Kola Peninsula and the Barents Sea.

During the repair of the Admiral Kuznetsov, one of the largest floating docks sank.

The repair of the Admiral Kuznetsov's underwater part began on the PD-50 floating dock, but on October 30, 2018, the dock sank. The PD-50 tower crane fell on the cruiser, piercing the deck and several compartments under it. After that, the aircraft carrier was towed to the berth of the 35th shipyard. Rakhmanov said that due to the PD-50 incident, part of the dock work on the ship was reoriented. Two small docks were connected to repair the Admiral Kuznetsov.

PD-50, which was one of the largest floating docks in Russia, was built in Sweden for the Soviet Navy. PD-50 was handed over to the customer in 1980. It was used for the disposal of the Kursk nuclear submarine, which sank in 2000. The displacement of the PD-50 was almost 216 thousand tons.

Admiral Kuznetsov.
Source: Sergey Yeshchenko / RIA Novosti

In 2019, a fire broke out on the Admiral Kuznetsov cruiser, the damage from which was estimated at about 500 million rubles.

"Admiral Kuznetsov" performed tasks off the coast of Syria

The cruiser was assigned to the Northern Fleet in 1991, and tests of various Admiral Kuznetsov systems continued until 1994. In 1995, the ship as part of the group went on its first combat service in the Mediterranean Sea. After that, the aircraft carrier made several more trips.

In 2016-2017, Admiral Kuznetsov performed combat missions off the coast of Syria. Planes from the cruiser's air wing attacked terrorist targets. During this operation, the Su-33 carrier-based fighter was used for the first time.

Admiral Kuznetsov became the fifth ship in the Krechet 1143 series of aircraft carriers. According to the project, the ship is capable of carrying up to 50 aircraft and helicopters. In particular, the wing included MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB fighters, as well as Ka-27 family helicopters.

The main feature of the Admiral Kuznetsov was the armament. The ship received the Granit complex with P-700 cruise anti-ship missiles, which carry a warhead weighing more than 500 kilograms. The complex made it possible to fight powerful enemy naval groups. In addition, the aircraft carrier's arsenal included the Dirk and Dagger anti-aircraft systems, as well as the RBU-12000 jet bomber.

There have been debates about the value of the Admiral Kuznetsov for the navy.

The Russian Navy's only aircraft carrier was controversial. Opinions were expressed both about the need for an aircraft carrier and about its uselessness. The former commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov, called for saving the ship for training carrier-based aviation pilots.

At the same time, 19FortyFive columnist Peter Suciu said that Russia does not need aircraft carriers, since it has practically no foreign ports. He admitted that the ports to which the aircraft carrier could be assigned would become a primary target in the event of a conflict.