Russia to Unveil Aircraft Super-Carrier Design Amid Navy Buildup

The Moscow Times ^ | May. 15 2015

[sukhoi-30mki]

A Russian naval design bureau will unveil a new design for a massive aircraft carrier at an upcoming maritime defense industry show in St. Petersburg amid a major Russian arms buildup, magazine IHS Jane's reported Friday.

Known as the Project 23000E, or Shtorm-class, super-carrier, the design by the Krylov State Research Center appears similar to one teased by Russian Defense Ministry television channel TV Zvezda earlier this year.

The unveiling, which is planned for the International Maritime Defense Show 2015 in early July according to IHS Jane's, will come as Russia pushes forward with a 20 trillion ruble ($400 billion) decade-long rearmament program through 2020 intended to revamp the country's armed forces and restore the Russian navy's ability to project power abroad.

“The Project 23000E multipurpose aircraft carrier is designed to conduct operations in remote and oceanic areas, engage land-based and sea-borne enemy targets, ensure the operational stability of naval forces, protect landing troops, and provide the anti-aircraft defense,” Krylov State Research Center deputy director Valery Polyakov told IHS Jane's, a specialized defense industry publication.

The new super-carrier would likely be part of a future armament program, as Russia's shipbuilding industry is currently unable to take on such a project, and the navy's near term strategy is to build up its fleets of smaller vessels.

Weighing in at 100,000 tons, the Shtorm-class is significantly larger and more capable than Moscow's only current aircraft carrier, the 43,000 ton Soviet-built Admiral Kuznetsov.

The scale of new carrier would rival that of the U.S. super-carrier fleet and be one of the world's largest warships — which has raised doubts over Russia's ability to construct such a vessel.

Like every Soviet aircraft carrier before it, Kuznetsov was constructed in the Nikolayev 444 shipyards, located in Ukraine. Russia does not have shipbuilding capacity for a vessel larger than 60,000 tons, experts told The Moscow Times earlier this year.

According to Polyakov, the proposed aircraft carrier will have a length of 330 meters, a width of 40 meters, and keel depth of 11 meters and a top speed of 30 knots, IHS Jane's reported.

Though Zvezda reported that Krylov's design would be powered by a nuclear reactor, Polyakov said the version of the design to be shown in St. Petersburg will run on convention diesel fuel. The design could be tweaked to fit a nuclear system if necessary, he said.

In 2011, Russia also commissioned two 16,500 ton French Mistral-class helicopter carriers for its fleet, but France froze the deal last year over Moscow's actions in Ukraine.

[Gen.Blather]

The F-35’s role of going over the target is obsolete. The Israelis have been successfully using smart glide bombs launched from hundreds of miles outside the threat zone, in this case from Lebanon. The bombs are small (250 lbs) because they are so accurate. A final target update is made by a tiny drone which is difficult if not impossible to shoot down. So, if the target is moving it still gets hit. The F-35 is a hugely wasteful effort whose role no longer exists.

[sergeantdave]

Stupid grunt question: Why does the ship have oars on the side?

Stupid question No. 2: How much beer and rum does it carry and what’s the daily ration?

Last question: That looks like a Roman quinquereme on the deck. What’s it doing there?

[Zhang Fei]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B61_nuclear_bomb

---

“In May 2010 the National Nuclear Security Administration asked Congress for $40 million to redesign the bomb to enable the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II to carry the weapon internally by 2017.[21] This version is designated Mod 12.[22] The four hundred B61-12 bombs will be used by both tactical aircraft (such as the F-35) and strategic aircraft (such as the B-2) and the Tail Subassembly (TSA) will give them Joint Direct Attack Munition levels of accuracy, allowing the fifty kiloton warhead to have strategic effects from all carrying aircraft.[23] However, refitting the 400 weapons is now expected to cost over $10 billion.[24] The B61 Mod 12 tail assembly contract was awarded to Boeing on November 27, 2012 for $178 million.[25] Boeing will use their experience with the Joint Direct Attack Munition to yield JDAM equivalent accuracy in a nuclear bomb.[26] This contract is only the first part of the billion dollar expense of producing and applying the tail kits, over and above the $10 billion cost to refurbish the warheads.[27] JDAM tail kits for conventional bombs of similar size and weight typically cost approximately $25,000 per unit,[28] about 1% of the B61 upgrade. The B61-12 uses an internal guidance system and can glide to its target. The bomb has four selectable yields: 0.3; 5; 10; and 50 kilotons.[29]”

[Zhang Fei]

The F-35’s role of going over the target is obsolete. The Israelis have been successfully using smart glide bombs launched from hundreds of miles outside the threat zone, in this case from Lebanon. The bombs are small (250 lbs) because they are so accurate. A final target update is made by a tiny drone which is difficult if not impossible to shoot down. So, if the target is moving it still gets hit. The F-35 is a hugely wasteful effort whose role no longer exists.

If you're bombing Lebanon, a country with a military that consists of jumped-up militias.

[bert]

-—— multipurpose aircraft carrier -——

Then it will be ineffective

too many eggs in the basket allows them to break

[Gen.Blather]

“If you’re bombing Lebanon, a country with a military that consists of jumped-up militias. “

Israel is bombing deep inside Syria, which has the latest Russian made anti-aircraft missile system. The Syrian system is controlled by the Russians and is said to be capable of taking down low flying F-16’s. (This is the system that has just been sold by Russia to Iran.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrT2KtSzMd0