Russia’s sole aircraft carrier—the Soviet-origin Admiral Kuznetsov—is now on the verge of being abandoned. With this, the Russian Navy will officially become an advanced military power that does not have an aircraft carrier.
The Russian Navy’s Admiral Kuznetsov has been undergoing overhauls since 2018. Previous reports indicated that the aircraft carrier was to be equipped with a host of air defense systems, getting a new power plant, having its catapult repaired, and receiving advanced weaponry to make it combat-ready.
However, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported on July 11 that the Russian Ministry of Defense (RuMoD) could abandon the refurbishment of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier. Citing unidentified informed sources, the report stated that the overhaul and modernization program is now in abeyance.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy and the United Shipbuilding Corporation are slated to make a final decision regarding the fate of this “cursed carrier” soon, it added.
Senior Russian Navy officials reportedly support the decommissioning of the nation’s sole aircraft carrier.
The former Russian Pacific Fleet commander, Adm. Sergei Avakyants, who was cited by the report, said the Russian Navy does not require aircraft carriers in a classic form.
Making a case against their utility in modern combat scenarios, he said aircraft carriers are just heavy platforms that can be “destroyed in a few minutes with modern weapons”, making them an expensive and inefficient naval weapon.
Admiral Avakyants said that robotic systems and unmanned aircraft carriers, not classic aircraft carriers, are the future.
“The future belongs to carriers of robotic systems and unmanned aircraft. And if a decision is made not to continue the repairs, the only thing left to do is to take the Admiral Kuznetsov, cut it up for scrap metal, and dispose of it.”
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While Avakyants’ statement is audacious, he is not the first to argue against the need for typical carriers. Several analysts have talked about the “redundancy of aircraft carriers” in modern battlefields, which are dominated by lethal and precise ballistic and hypersonic missiles, as well as cheap drones.
However, a dominant group of experts still believes that aircraft carriers are indispensable and far from obsolescence.
In fact, the Russian Navy’s former Vice Admiral Vladimir Pepelyaev discussed the strategic importance of these mammoth vessels in his book “Aircraft Carrier.” Citing historical precedents and contemporary strategic imperatives, he asserted that for a nation like Russia, which aspires to be a major maritime power, a fully-equipped aircraft carrier fleet is indispensable.
The view is echoed by officials in the United States as well, who are currently working on Ford-class aircraft carriers.
Earlier, Admiral S. J. Paparo, the Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), said: “Aircraft carriers are indispensable combat platforms. With their air wings, these mighty, mobile, maritime air bases offer a unique combination of versatility and force, enabling the nation to project air power across the globe without the constraints of basing rights and geopolitical borders. Naval aviation and aircraft carriers are critical capabilities within a system of joint, combined, all-domain warfighting. They can generate high sortie rates for strike warfare and air superiority.”
Although carriers are vulnerable in some high-intensity combat situations, they can be very useful in other potential military missions. They can be deployed anywhere in international seas, which allows them to respond quickly to different operational needs or threats without requiring assistance from the host country. They provide mobility at sea like no other, and significantly increase the frequency of sorties.
That is, perhaps, why countries like the United States and China continue to invest in the development of new and advanced carriers. Japan, on the other hand, has modified two Izumo-class helicopter carriers, the JS Izumo and JS Kaga, to operate F-35B fighter jets, and India has plans to indigenously develop a second carrier to replace INS Vikramaditya.
Russia’s plans about having an aircraft carrier fleet remain unclear, but there is an indication that they have not been abandoned. Rear Admiral of the reserve, Mikhail Chekmasov, told Izvestia that strategic planning papers, particularly the “Fundamentals of state policy in the field of naval activities until 2030,” state that the Northern and Pacific Fleets must have aircraft carriers.
“I think the issue of creating aircraft carriers is somehow present in the ship construction program for the period up to 2050, which was recently reviewed by the Presidential Maritime Board,” Mikhail Chekmasov added. The main issue, however, is the financing given that the Ukraine war is still grinding on.
As previously reported by the EurAsian Times, Russia has started construction on the Project 23900 big-deck amphibious assault ship, also known as the Ivan Rogov-class. It would be the largest surface warship produced by Russia in over thirty years.
However, there is little information about an active unmanned carrier program, the concept endorsed by the former Russian Commander Adm. Sergei Avakyants.
The EurAsian Times understands that the construction of a new amphibious assault ship is a significant development because not only does Russia need a new large vessel after Moskva’s loss, but it also needs a vessel that can carry helicopters and, perhaps even short take-off and landing aircraft that it may develop, as its Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier is yet to be welcomed back into service.
The “Cursed” Admiral Kuznestov
Admiral Kuznetsov was built at the Black Sea Shipyard, which was the only manufacturer of Soviet aircraft carriers, in Mykolaiv within the erstwhile Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Launched in 1985, it was originally commissioned into service with the Soviet Navy and transferred to the Russian Navy after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
It was used for operations off the Syrian coast in 2016. The air group’s pilots conducted over 400 flights during the deployment, striking over 1,200 terrorist targets.
Later, however, it was widely ridiculed for spewing a black smoke cloud that stretched for kilometers across the English Channel. At one point in 2017, it was called “the ship of shame” by the UK as it passed through waters near the English Coast, following which, the ship was sent for repairs and modernization. However, it never made it back.
Since entering the dry docks for repair in 2018, the aircraft carrier has suffered several incidents, earning the nickname “cursed carrier.”
In October 2018, the carrier was severely damaged when the floating dock PD-50 sank underneath the ship, causing a 200-square-foot hole in the carrier’s deck. It was then towed to the berth of the 35th shipyard in Severomorsk, where repairs started.
Another tragedy befell Admiral Kuznetsov in December 2019, when a fire broke out on board the carrier during the welding process, leaving two people dead and fourteen injured. There was another fire in late 2022, but no casualties were reported.
Alexei Rakhmanov, the head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), announced in February 2023 that the aircraft carrier had been removed from the dock and placed in a permanent repair facility. He also mentioned that the aircraft carrier should be returned to the battle fleet the following year.
Previous reports suggested that most of the ship’s electronics need to be replaced, which has also delayed the completion of its refurbishment. Moreover, several other components, including the flight deck’s resurfacing and the ski take-off ramp’s restoration, also need extensive repairs. Additionally, the ship’s engines had to be replaced, but the only facility that can do it is the Zorya-Mashproyekt firm in Ukraine.
American shipyards typically take three years to overhaul the US Navy’s nuclear-powered flattops. In contrast, the sole Russian carrier has been under repair and refurbishment for seven years. The process has also been marred by international sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of its invasion.
Earlier, Admiral Kuznetsov was supposed to re-enter service by 2022, a deadline that was later pushed to 2024, and then to 2025. However, there was little optimism among analysts and military watchers that the ship would be able to make it back. Several publications, including The Sun, painted a grim picture, predicting that the carrier might never sail again.
A popular British publication, The Telegraph, published a report last year with the headline: “Russia is no longer an aircraft carrier nation.”
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