Soviet aircraft carrier Kuznetsov
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| Career |  |
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| Designer: | Nevskoye Planning and Design Bureau | |||||||||||||||||
| Shipyard: | Nikolayev South | |||||||||||||||||
| Ordered: | March 3, 1981 | |||||||||||||||||
| Laid down: | February 22, 1983 | |||||||||||||||||
| Launched: | December 5, 1985 | |||||||||||||||||
| Commissioned: | January 21, 1991 Fully operational in 1995 |
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| Decommissioned: | N/A | |||||||||||||||||
| Fate: | Active in service | |||||||||||||||||
| General Characteristics | ||||||||||||||||||
| Displacement: | 43 000 tonnes light 53 000-55 000 tonnes standard 66 600-67 500 tonnes full load |
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| Length: | 300 metres overall 270 metres at waterline |
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| Beam: | 73 metres overall 38 metres at waterline |
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| Draft: | 11 metres | |||||||||||||||||
| Powerplant | Steam turbines, 8 boilers, 4 shafts, 149 MW 2×37MW turbines 9×1500 kW turbogenerators 6×1500 kW diesel generators |
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| Propellers: | 4 with fixed pitch | |||||||||||||||||
| Speed: | 32 knots | |||||||||||||||||
| Endurance: | 45 days 7100 km at 32 knots |
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| Complement: | 1960 crew 626 air group 40 flag staff 3857 rooms |
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Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov (originally named Tbilisi) is an aircraft carrier (heavy aircraft carrying cruiser (TAVKR) in Russian classification) serving as the flagship of the Russian Navy. She was originally commissioned in the Soviet Navy, and was intended to be the lead ship of the Kuznetsov class (also known as Project 1143.5, the Riga class, or the Brezhnev class) but the only other ship of her class, Varyag, has never been commissioned and was sold to the People's Republic of China by Ukraine under the condition she would never be refitted for combat. Kuznetsov was named after the Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov.
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[edit] Design of the class
[edit] Intended missions
While designated an aircraft carrier, Kuznetsov's design implies a mission different from that of either the United States Navy’s carriers or those of the French Navy. The Russian ship is termed by her builders to be a tyazholiy avianesushchiy kreyser (TAKR or TAVKR) - a “heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser” - intended to support and defend strategic missile-carrying submarines, surface ships, and maritime missile-carrying aircraft of the Russian fleet. This designation allows the Soviet/Russian navy to circumvent the refusal by Turkey to let aircraft carriers pass the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The aircraft of Kuznetsov are essentially constrained to air superiority operations. The lack of catapults on Kuznetsov precludes launching strike aircraft with heavy loads, which makes it essentially impossible for aircraft with large payloads to attack land or naval targets, although Su-33 fighters with maximum payload are able to take off through the landing deck. The carrier also carries numerous helicopters for anti-submarine operations and also anti-ship missiles.
[edit] Hull and Flight Deck
The hull design is based on the earlier Admiral Gorshkov, launched in 1982, but is larger. The flight deck area is 14,700 m² and aircraft take-off is assisted by a bow ski-jump angled at 12°. The shape of the deck is loosely patterned after the ship's American counterparts. Kuznetsov has a STOBAR configuration; the flight deck is equipped with arrester wires but has no catapults. Two starboard aircraft elevators, ahead and abaft the island, carry aircraft back and forth between the hangar deck and the flight deck.
[edit] Air Wing
The ship has the capacity to support twelve Sukhoi Su-33 Flankers and five Sukhoi Su-25UTG Frogfoot fixed-wing aircraft [1]; and a range of helicopters including four Kamov Ka-27-LD Helix, AEW variant), 18 Ka-27 PLO (ASW variant) or Ka-29, and two Ka-27PS (SAR variant). According to the project, up to 26 fixed-wing fighters could be carried, apart from 24 helicopters, so possibly a number of Su-33s can be increased.
[edit] Armament
Unlike more conventional aircraft carriers, which carry little organic armament, Kuznetsov has a P-700 Granit/SS-N-19 Shipwreck antiship missile system equipped with twelve surface-to-surface missile launchers. The Klinok air defense missile system, with 24 vertical launchers and 192 missiles, defends the ship and her task force against anti-ship missiles, aircraft, and surface ships. This heavy surface-to-surface armament is necessitated by the ship's lack of catapults, which makes launching fully loaded strike craft difficult.
The Kashtan Air Defence Gun and Missile System, supplied by the Instrument Design Bureau and Tulamashzavod JSC in Tula, provides defense against precision weapons including anti-ship and anti-radar missiles, aircraft, and small sea targets. Eight systems are fitted, combining a missile launcher, 30 mm twin guns, and radar/optronic director. The range of the laser beam-riding missiles is from 1.5 to 8 km. The guns can fire up to 10,000 rounds per minute at a range of 0.5 to 1.5 km. Six AK630 30 mm air defence guns are also fitted.
The ship is also equipped with an Udav-1 anti-submarine system with 60 anti-submarine rockets. Udav-1, supplied by the Splav Research and Production Association in Moscow, protects surface ships by diverting and destroying incoming torpedoes. The system also provides defense against submarines and saboteur systems such as underwater vehicles. The system has ten barrels and is capable of firing 111SG depth charge projectiles, 111SZ mine laying projectiles, and 111SO diverting projectiles. The range of the system is 3000 m and the submarine engagement depth is to 600 m.
[edit] Electronics
The ship's radars include a D/E band air and surface target acquisition radar, an F band surface search radar, G/H band flight control radar, I band navigation radar, and four K band fire control radars for the Kashtan Air Defence System. The ship's hull-mounted search and attack sonar, operating in the medium- and low-frequency bands, is capable of detecting torpedoes and submarines. The anti-submarine warfare aircraft are equipped with surface search radar, dipping sonar, sonobuoys, and magnetic anomaly detectors (MAD).
[edit] Propulsion and performance
Initially Western analysts anticipated that Kuznetsov would have a Combined Nuclear And Steam (CONAS) propulsion plant similar to the battlecruiser Kirov and the SSV-33 command ship. However, Kuznetsov as completed is conventionally-powered by eight boilers and four steam turbines, each producing 50,000 hp (37 MW), driving four shafts with fixed-pitch propellers. Her maximum speed is 29 knots (54 km/h), and the range at maximum speed is 3,800 miles (6,100 km). At 18 knots (33 km/h), the maximum range is 8,500 miles (13,700 km).
[edit] Unit histories and current status
[edit] Admiral Kuznetsov
Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov, which was constructed at Nikolayev South Shipyard in Nikolayev, was launched in 1985, and she became fully operational in 1995. An official ceremony of construction starting was on September 1, 1982, in fact she was laid down in 1983. The vessel was first named Riga, but in November 1982 the name was changed to Leonid Brezhnev, in August 1987 to Tbilisi, and finally on October 4, 1990 to Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov, in short referred to as Admiral Kuznetsov. In summer of 1989 the ship was completed in 71%. In November 1989 she undertook first trials of aircraft operations. In December 1991 she sailed from the Black Sea to her destiny Northern Fleet. Only from 1993 she started to be equipped with planes. Kuznetsov made a brief Mediterranean training cruise early in 1996. At the end of 1997 she remained immobilized in a Northern Fleet shipyard, awaiting funding for major repairs that were halted when only 20% complete. The overhaul was finally completed in July 1998, and the ship was formally returned to active service in the Northern fleet on November 3, 1998. Apparently, the ship remained in port for about two years. In the autumn of 2000, the Kuznetsov went to sea for operations related to the rescue and salvage operations of the submarine Kursk. Plans for further operations were postponed or cancelled. In late 2003 and early 2004, the Kuznetsov went to sea for inspection and trials. In late October 2004, she participated in a fleet exercise of the Russian navy in the Atlantic Ocean. The Kuznetsov later participated again in September 2005. During the 2005 exercise one of its Su-33 fighters had an accident, and fell from the carrier into the Atlantic Ocean.
Although money shortages and technical problems have resulted in limited operations, it is expected that Admiral Kuznetsov will remain in active duty until at least 2030.
On September 27, 2006 it was announced that the 'Admiral Kuznetsov,' will return to the Northern Fleet by the end of the year. The ship will undergo another modernization refit, in an attempt to correct some of its many technical issues. Admiral Vladimir Masorin, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, also stated that several Su-33 Flankers fighter aircraft, assigned to the aircraft carrier, would return to the ship after undergoing maintenance and refits of their own.
[edit] Varyag
- Main article: Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag
Varyag was also constructed at the Nikolayev South Shipyard in the Black Sea in Ukraine. The vessel was launched in 1988, but was never commissioned into the Soviet Navy. She was given to Ukraine, and eventually sold to the People's Republic of China.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Ten production aircraft were built, with five each going to the Russian Republic and the Ukraine after the fall of the USSR. The Russian Navy then requested ten more trainers from Sukhoi, but it is unclear if any Su-25UBPs were ever actually delivered.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Article on GlobalSecurity.org about the Kreml class aircraft carrier.
- A Foolhardy Naval Exercise - Critical article about the Fall 2004 exercise in which Kuznetsov participated.
- General information and images on www.naval-technology.com
- [1]
- "A Brief Look at Russian Aircraft Carrier Development," Robin J. Lee.
- Su-33 - A video clip with Su-33 operating on the deck of Kuznetsov.
- [2] - RIA Novosti article on the Kuznetsov rejoining the Northern Fleet
