The design of Admiral Kuznetsov Class Implies a mission different from that of the United States Navy's carriers

Russian: Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov

Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov", originally the name of the fifth Kirov-class battlecruiser is an aircraft carrier (heavy aircraft cruiser in the Russian classification) serving as the flagship of the Russian Navy. It was built at the Chernomorsky Shipyard, the sole manufacturer of Soviet aircraft carriers, in Nikolaev on the territory of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). The original name of the ship was "Riga"; she was launched as Leonid Brezhnev, underwent sea trials as Tbilisi, and was finally named Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov after Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov.

It was originally commissioned into the Soviet Navy and was to be the lead ship of the two ships of the Admiral Kuznetsov class. However, her sister ship Varyag was still unfinished when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The second hull was eventually sold by Ukraine to China, completed in Dalian and commissioned as "Liaoning". As of July 2021, Admiral Kuznetsov has been decommissioned for repairs. In November 2018, it was damaged by the fall of a 70-ton crane from the floating dry dock PD-50 and a fire that killed two during repairs. The drydock, which sank due to a power outage while the Admiral Kuznetsov was in it, was vital to the repair of the aircraft carrier, which is not expected to be back in service until 2022 at the earliest. In 2021, United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) Vice President Vladimir Korolev told the TASS news agency that the ship is expected to begin post-repair sea trials in mid-2023 and return to the fleet later that year, although this may have been rescheduled for a year or more due to delays.

Design

The design of the Admiral Kuznetsov class implies a mission different from that of US Navy aircraft carriers. The term that its builders used to describe Russian ships is the Heavy Aircraft Carrier Cruiser (TAVKR), a “heavy aircraft carrier cruiser” designed to support and protect strategic missile-carrying submarines, surface ships and naval missile-carrying aircraft of the Russian Federation. Naval.

The deck configuration has three starting positions for aircraft.

The main aircraft of Admiral Kuznetsov is the multi-purpose Su-33. It can perform air superiority, fleet protection and air support missions, and can also be used for close fire support for amphibious assaults, reconnaissance and laying naval mines. The aircraft carrier also carries Kamov Ka-27 and Kamov Ka-27S helicopters for anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue operations and small transport.

To take off fixed-wing aircraft, the Admiral Kuznetsov uses springboards at the end of the bow. On takeoff, planes accelerate towards the ramp and up using their afterburners. This results in the aircraft leaving the deck at a greater angle and elevation than on a flat-deck aircraft carrier with catapults. Ski-jump takeoffs are less demanding on the pilot as acceleration is lower, but results in an overall speed of only 120–140 km/h (75–87 mph), requiring an aircraft design that will not stall at these speeds. speed. The role of the "cruiser" is facilitated by the fact that Admiral Kuznetsov has 12 long-range surface-to-surface cruise missiles P-700 "Granit" (NATO classification name: "Shipwreck"). As a result, this armament became the basis for assigning the Russian type designation "heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser" to the ship.

Unlike most Western naval ships that use gas turbines or nuclear power, the Admiral Kuznetsov is a conventionally powered ship that uses oil as fuel, which often results in a visible trail of thick black smoke that can be seen on a large distance. Russian naval officials have said that the lack of proper preheating of heavy fuel oil before it enters the combustion chamber could contribute to the formation of a heavy smoke trail associated with the ship.