1.5 thousand officers, midshipmen and sailors will prepare the cruiser for its return to the Navy's combat strengthFor the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, they began to prepare a new combat crew.
It will include more than 1.5 thousand officers, midshipmen and sailors. After the formation is completed, the crew will undergo training, and then take over the aircraft carrier from the industry and conduct all tests on it. In 2017, when the ship was put on repair and modernization, its crew was almost completely disbanded. Experts note that recruiting a new team will be a difficult test for HR services. The aircraft carrier is expected to return to the combat fleet in 2024.
New team
The Russian Defense Ministry has begun to re-form the crew of the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, sources in the military department told Izvestia. It is planned to recruit more than 1 thousand sailors, midshipmen and officers. In addition to purely maritime positions — motorists, navigators, signalmen — the crew will be equipped with specialists in the operation and maintenance of aviation equipment and equipment.
After completion of manning, the crew will undergo training and coordination. And then he will conduct all the tests of the ship, which after six years of modernization should return to the combat fleet.
Sources of Izvestia refused to name the exact number of personnel of the ship. But we are talking about more than 1.5 thousand military personnel. Due to the installation of new automated systems and units, the crew was slightly reduced. Previously, it was more than 1,9 thousand sailors.
— We have almost no such large ships with a crew of 1.5 thousand people, — military historian Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia. — In addition to the Kuznetsov, these are two cruisers — Admiral Nakhimov and Peter the Great. Accordingly, it is necessary to pick up a huge number of people, specialists in the operation of turbines, boilers. The formation of the crew of such a ship is a very complex process. The number of the crew alone, which ensures the movement of the ship, exceeds the crew of a modern corvette. The difficulty is that if there are many aircraft carriers in the US Navy and they can transfer specialists from one ship to another, then Admiral Kuznetsov is the only one of its kind. It takes a long time to prepare to figure out where, what's what on such a huge ship. In addition to officers and midshipmen, it is necessary to recruit contract sailors. This is a very difficult task for HR services.
On February 21 of this year, the general director of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), Alexey Rakhmanov, announced that the dock repairs on the underwater part of the ship had been completed, and therefore it was removed from the dock site and put in place of permanent repairs. According to the head of the USC, the aircraft carrier should return to the combat fleet next year.
Last year, USC promised to complete repairs in 2023, but did not rule out postponements due to delays in the supply of equipment by cooperative enterprises. During the repair, avionics, the flight deck with a springboard, power equipment and power plant are changed.
One of a kind
The heavy aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is the flagship of the Russian Navy and the Northern Fleet (SF). The ship was launched in 1985, in 1991 it became part of the SF. In 1995, he served in the Mediterranean. In 2007-2008, at the head of a detachment of ships, he made a trip to the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
In 2016-2017, as part of the task force of ships in the Mediterranean, he performed combat missions off the coast of Syria. The pilots of the air group carried out more than 400 sorties, hitting over 1.2 thousand terrorist targets. After returning from the campaign, the ship was sent for repair and modernization.
 |
| The Su-33 naval fighter of the Russian Aerospace Forces before taking off from the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov to launch an air strike on terrorist targets in Syria. November 17, 2016. |
| Source: © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation |
During the repair of the ship, several serious accidents occurred. In October 2018, the PD-50 floating dock sank. "Kuznetsov" was damaged by the fall of the dock crane, but remained afloat. It was towed to the berth of the 35th ship repair plant in Severomorsk, where it later underwent repairs.
In December 2019, a fire occurred on board the aircraft carrier. During welding work, a spark got into the hold, where fuel was spilled. As a result, two people were killed and 14 were injured. At the end of last year, a fire was also reported on the ship, it was liquidated, there were no casualties.
The Northern Fleet, which includes Admiral Kuznetsov, is the most powerful in the Russian Navy. Its missile submarines are on combat duty in various regions of the world. In addition, the area of responsibility of the SF command includes the Arctic borders of the country — since the middle of the last decade, Russia has been actively building infrastructure in the Arctic and deploying forces there to cover the Northern Sea Route.
 |
| Admiral Kuznetsov is essentially just a floating airfield. But what is the condition of the aircraft wing of the ship?. |
| Source: mil.ru |
The Joint Strategic Command "Northern Fleet" received the status equal to the military district, and under its control — territories and military units allocated from the Western Military District. Then the Arctic grouping was reinforced by the troops of the Central and Eastern military districts located in the Arctic.
 |
| Admiral Kuznetsov. |
| Source: iz.ru |
Coastal missile systems "Bal" and "Bastion", air defense systems are located on the Arctic islands. The polar airfields have been reconstructed, fighters are serving on them. In addition, the transfer of forces to the Arctic from other regions, both land and sea, is regularly practiced. Along with the appearance of military bases in the region, transport infrastructure is also being built, which can be used for civilian needs.
Roman Kretsul
Alexey Ramm
