"Admiral Kuznetsov may be sent for scrap: Russia stops repair of its only aircraft carrier cruiser
The repair and modernisation of the heavy aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, which has been underway since 2017, has been officially suspended. According to the Russian newspaper Izvestia, citing its own sources, the fate of Russia's only aircraft carrier now depends on the decision of the Navy Command and the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC).
An aircraft carrier with endless problems
"The Admiral Kuznetsov is the only heavy aircraft carrier in the Russian Navy and one of the last ships laid down in the Soviet era. Its construction began in 1982 at the Black Sea Shipyard in Mykolaiv. The ship went through a number of renamings: first Riga, then Leonid Brezhnev, then Tbilisi, and only in 1990 was it given its current name in honour of Admiral Nikolai Kuznetsov, the commander of the Soviet Navy during World War II. Officially commissioned in 1991, it was conceived as a universal combat platform for aircraft, helicopters and heavy missile weapons.
Unlike classical US aircraft carriers, the Kuznetsov was equipped with a springboard for aircraft take-off instead of catapults and heavy anti-ship weapons - the P-700 Granit system. Its aviation group consisted of Su-33 fighters, with MiG-29K and Ka-27 helicopters added later. In 1995-1996, the ship made its first major campaign in the Mediterranean Sea, and after a long inactivity in 2016, it took part in the Syrian campaign. It was there that it lost two planes due to landing accidents, which caused a wave of criticism and jokes about the "flying airfield".
However, its technical reputation was much more resounding. The outdated boiler and turbine plant was constantly malfunctioning, causing the carrier to be accompanied by thick black smoke - so distinctive that it became the subject of memes around the world. Since 2017, the Admiral Kuznetsov has been undergoing repairs and modernisation, which has been accompanied by a number of incidents. In 2018, the floating dock PD-50 sank beneath the ship, with a tower crane breaking through its deck. In 2019, a fire broke out, killing several workers and further delaying the ship's return to service. Russian officials have repeatedly promised to complete the modernisation by 2020, then by 2023, but now the new deadline is 2024-2025.
Today, for Russia, the Kuznetsov symbolises the remnants of a great-power fleet, and for the rest of the world, technical backwardness and chronic problems with keeping such giants afloat. Its history is an illustrative example of the legacy of the USSR, which survived the change of eras but failed to become a full-fledged competitor to Western aircraft carriers.
The decision on possible scrapping will be the final stage for Russia's only aircraft carrier, which has become a symbol of the problems of the Russian Navy over 40 years of service. Meanwhile, China has already transformed a similar unfinished Varyag cruiser into a full-fledged Liaoning aircraft carrier.
Source: The Insider
