The state news agency TASS has announced that the final conversions and repairs to the "Admiral Kuznetsov" will take until September of this year. The aircraft carrier "Fleet Admiral of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov" (project 1143.5), classified as a heavy flight deck cruiser, is considered the flagship of the Russian Federation Navy. But in reality, the flagship was built several years ago.
Last use
"Admiral Kuznetsov" Photo: Russian Navy
The ship's last deployment was in 2016/17 in a convoy of eight ships, including the cruiser "Piotr Veliky" and two Udaloy frigates, based at the new Russian base in Tartus off the Syrian coast, where the carrier aircraft are said to have flown 420 attacks on positions in Syria. Only a small number of the sorties were flown from the deck, as the fighter jets were disembarked at the Russian Hmeimim airbase near Latakia in Syria after two incidents (aircraft lost before and during landing before the end of 2016).
Shipyard time in Murmansk
After this deployment, the ship went into a major repair phase in Murmansk on Kola Bay in 2018, which was due to be completed by 2020, but from which it has not yet recovered. Firstly, the carrier was severely damaged on 30 October 2018 when the floating dock "PD-50" sank while undocking the "Kuznetsov" off Murmansk, probably due to a power failure. A crane on the dock tipped onto the carrier and punched a large hole in the flight deck. A total of 52 damaged areas were identified, which cost an additional one million euros to repair. A year later, on 12 December 2019, a fire broke out on board during welding work in the port and spread to 600 square metres. A subsequent corruption incident (embezzlement of around 500,000 euros) didn't make things any easier!
Topic fleet flagship
Following the sinking of the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the "Moskva", it seems that Moscow had to get the flagship issue moving, although experts did not see much of a future for the outdated warhorse with its obsolete systems and unsafe flight operations. Now the carrier is to go into a dry dock specially built from two small docks and float up again from there before the ice returns to Kola Bay, otherwise everything will be delayed by another six months, according to another source. The United Shipbuilding Corporation, as the responsible developer, has not yet been able to provide any information on these dates.
And now?
The question remains, what is the point of all these reports? What is the point of haste and cost if the ship's life can only be extended by about five years, according to the technical assessments? Is the "Kuznetsov" supposed to be the image of Russia as a flagship - patched up top and bottom, too short fore and aft, without a colourful, fearsome "headdress" on the flight deck? Which advertising agency did the Kremlin hire?
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Here are some additions to this article:
According to a report by the TASS news agency on 8 June 2022, the heavy flight deck cruiser "Admiral flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov" ("Адмирал флота Советского Союза Кузнецов") will not be handed over to the Russian naval fleet until 2024, as further defects were discovered during the shipyard laytime that are to be remedied.
According to a TASS report from 20 May 2022, the transfer of the "Admiral Kuznetsov" to the dry dock in the area of the Ship Repair Plant-35 began on the same day.
The Russian naval fleet expects to be able to deploy the heavy flight deck cruiser for another 10 - 15 years.
According to a TASS report from 18 May 2022, the new flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet will presumably be the frigate "Admiral Makarov" (project 11356) until the multipurpose landing ship "Mitrofan Moskalenko" (under construction in Kerch in accordance with project 23900) enters service with the Russian Black Sea Fleet.