The Kuznetsov
Posted on 09/28/2006 6:36:52 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Russian air carrier to rejoin Navy by end of 2006
16:16 | 27/ 09/ 2006
MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia's only aircraft carrier, will join the Northern Fleet by the end of the year after modernization, the Navy's chief said Wednesday.
The ship, also known as Project 1143.5 heavy aircraft carrier, was commissioned in the Russian Navy in 1991 and became fully operational in 1995. But it was plagued by technical problems, including faulty arrester gear, and was put into dock earlier this year for a technical overhaul.
"All preparatory work has been completed on the Admiral Kuznetsov and it will leave port for a combat training mission at the beginning of next week," Admiral Vladimir Masorin said after a visit on board the ship.
The Navy commander also said that several Su-33 Flanker-D fighters assigned to the aircraft carrier would return to the ship after a brief technical overhaul. The vessel is capable of carrying up to 26 fixed-wing fighters and 24 helicopters.
Russia's military leadership is considering building several modern aircraft carriers after 2015.
"The Russian Navy will operate several aircraft carriers in future," Masorin said in February, adding that Admiral Kuznetsov would probably remain in service until 2030.
The Kuznetsov
I have always liked this little ship for some reason.
"Hah, why THAT'S not an aircraft carrier....."....(W pulls out the Ronald Reagan from his vest).
Is the ski jump supposed to take the place of the cats?
Ping!!
Yes,it is.
Yes the Russian have had allot of problems developing steam cats.
Sailing it to sell it.
Still no catapults, huh? Still using a ramp. After all the time they've had to study real aircraft carriers...
What, they can't steal the design?
Ah, steam cats are sooooo 20th century. They should be working on electro-magnetic cats...
"Is the ski jump supposed to take the place of the cats?"
Yep.
The USNS is the only service to have figured out how to make a cat work right.
If you have ever been below decks to see them, you can understand why.
Rube Goldberg would have been proud.
I also notice that they stole our angled deck.
Probably that cute little pug nose...
Well Uncle Sam has been nice enough to sell it to the French navy as well!!!
Gotcha covered there.
I don't think anyone would want it.China has the Varyag,which is a sister ship-don't know what they will do with it.India is getting the Admiral Gorshkov,which weighs about 45,000 tonnes ready for it.Not having a carrier would be a black mark for the Russians.
We stole the angled deck from the Brits. Heck, we stole the carrier.
A carrier that can fly real supersonic aircraft? Shoot, a lot of countries would bite on it. No one has bought it yet because they weren't sure it will float.
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