Atomic aircraft carriers of Russia and their technical characteristics

Atomic aircraft carriers are the ships of the newest generation, which are accessible only to the leading powers of the world. However, at the same time they are practically not included in the Russian Navy. What is the problem? Why does the Russian Federation, which in many respects lead the international arms race, so far behind in this indicator? After all, the United States has a fairly decent number of such ships. Where are the Russian aircraft carriers? It is to this question that you will learn the answer in this article. You will understand why this aspect of the arms race in the Russian Federation turned out to be so weak. Also you will learn about ships of this type that were produced in Russia, but for one reason or another did not appear in the Navy. Also you can get information about the only aircraft carrier in the service in the Navy, as well as whether the Russian nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are planned in the near future.

Naturally, specific information on such projects is impossible to obtain - on the television, the responsible persons can say one thing, on paper, another will be indicated, but in fact, there may be a third one. Therefore, information about the future of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in Russia is purely hypothetical.

Why is there no nuclear aircraft carriers in Russia?

Russian nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are a very interesting topic, since one of the strongest powers in the world in military terms is almost completely missing a large and important segment. How did it happen? The whole problem lies in the legacy that the Russian Federation inherited from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The catch can be found in the study of the military policy of the USSR - the fact is that the state completely abandoned the production of aircraft carriers, not even considering them as a concept of aircraft carrying the aircraft power.

Already in the days of the Soviet Union, the foundation for the unevenness of this aspect in future Russia began to be laid, in comparison, for example, with the United States. As a result, the Russian Federation did not have any aircraft carriers and no plans and programs for their manufacture at the beginning of its existence, the new millenium was met by the country in exactly the same situation, and today as to when the Russian nuclear-powered aircraft carriers will appear, only rumors are circulating And conversations.

Trying to start production

It can not be said that the Soviet Union did not even try. In the early seventies, the Soviet Union actually planned the construction of the first full-fledged nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which could initiate the recruitment of a real nuclear fleet. A project was already created, which received the working title "1160". The goal of this project was the creation, by 1986, of three full-fledged nuclear aircraft carriers that could give a catapult takeoff by one of the most effective Soviet Su-27 K aircraft. However, unfortunately, the plan was not destined to be realized, as at that time the USSR was concentrated On the creation of heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers, which can not be called full-fledged nuclear-powered aircraft carriers for a variety of reasons. And it was then that a proposal was made to create the newest heavy aircraft carrying cruiser with vertical take-off. That's when the project "1160" was rolled up, and the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of domestic origin never appeared.

By the way, the project of the aircraft carrying cruiser, which was replaced by the project "1160", suffered a complete defeat. In 1991, it was completed, trial launches were started, which eventually led to the fact that one of the aircraft fell directly to the deck of the cruiser and burned there. By 1992, the project was curtailed, and the Soviet Union remained both without nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and without cruisers with a vertical launch system, and the Russian Federation, which appeared a year later, without any baggage in developing nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

But what happened next? Have Russian nuclear carriers appeared? History shows that they actually appeared, but they were also more likely to be aircraft-carrying cruisers, and they were created mostly not for the Russian Navy.

What is now?

When it comes to nuclear-powered aircraft carriers of Russia, the classification plays a very big role. The fact is that as such there are no atomic aircraft carriers in the country at all. And they were never created in Russia, nor before in the Soviet Union. But if you drop the meticulousness, then to the aircraft carriers can be attributed heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers, which have already been written earlier. And then we can trace the history of how those cruisers appeared that functioned already in Russia.

The cruisers "Kiev", "Minsk" and "Novorossiysk" were the first. They were launched in the seventies, and were copied together in 1993. The first stood idly for ten years, until he was sent to China, where he became an exhibit of the thematic museum. The second one, two years after the decommissioning, was sold to South Korea, where they wanted to disassemble it for metal, but then was resold to China, where, like the previous one, he got into a museum. The third was less lucky - he was sold to Korea for dismantling, but no one had bought it, so the cruiser was dismantled for details.

As for more modern models, we should pay attention to the aircraft carrier "Varyag", which was launched in 1988. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it went to Ukraine, which sold it to China, where it was improved, completed and prepared for use. As a result, it still functions as Liaoning. Another cruiser that still operates is Admiral Gorshkov, which operated until 2004, after which it was sold to India, where it was reconstructed, converted to a classic nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and is still in service with the Indian Navy. There is another aircraft carrying cruiser called "Ulyanovsk", which could operate in the Russian Federation - it was laid relatively recently, in 1998, and it was planned that it would be completed by 1995. At the same time, he would still be able to serve calmly in the Russian Navy, but the project was rolled up before it was completed, and what was already assembled was taken back to the metal. That's how the first Russian nuclear-powered aircraft carriers did not come into service with the Navy.

Admiral Kuznetsov

But are they all nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in Russia? The review does not end here, because it is necessary to look at one copy, which is the only one now afloat and in the Navy. What is this ship? This is the nuclear aircraft carrier of Russia "Admiral Kuznetsov" - the only ship in the Russian Navy, which can be classified as aircraft carrier. However, in this case, the atomic aircraft carrier can only be called conditionally, since it, like the previous models, is a TAVKR, that is, a heavy aircraft carrying cruiser. Like all other aircraft carriers, it was built at the Soviet Chernigov shipyard. The ship was laid in 1985, and in 1988 it was already launched - since then it has functioned and managed to serve both the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. He got his name only after the collapse of the USSR, before that he had several different names. Initially, he was given the name "Riga", then he was renamed "Leonid Brezhnev", then became "Tbilisi", and only then the Russian nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov was born. What kind of ship is this, which today is the only ship in the entire Russian Navy?

Technical characteristics of the ship

As you can see, there are not a large number of Russian nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the presence of the Navy. The technical characteristics of a single heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser, however, can be of interest. So, this is a ship with a rather impressive displacement - more than sixty thousand tons. Its length is 306 meters, width - seventy meters, and the height at the highest point is 65 meters. The draft of the ship can be from eight to ten meters, with a maximum displacement of 10.4 meters. Booking of this ship is made of rolled steel, duplication of the body by additional compartments is organized. From the enemy torpedoes the ship is protected by a 4.5-meter three-layer protection - the armor layer is able to carry the hit with a charge of 400 kilograms of TNT. As for the engines, we should pay attention here that a four-shaft boiler turbine technology was used, which is not used on high-grade nuclear aircraft carriers. However, if we talk about dry technical characteristics, then four steam turbines give a total of 200 thousand horsepower, turbo generators produce 13,500 kilowatts, and diesel generators - another nine thousand kilowatts. Also worth noting thruster, which consists of four five-blade propellers. What does all this give in total? In total, the maximum speed is 29 knots, that is, 54 kilometers per hour. Also worth noting the combat economic and economic speed - the first is 18 knots, and the second - 14.

How much can this ship swim without refueling? The range of course, of course, depends on the speed: at maximum speed, the range is 3,850 nautical miles, at a combat economic speed - just over seven and a half thousand nautical miles, and at an economic speed - almost eight and a half thousand nautical miles. Regardless of the distance traveled, the autonomy of the voyage is also considered, which, in the case of this ship, is forty-five days. The crew of this ship has a little less than two thousand people. This is a result that could easily surpass the modern nuclear aircraft carriers of Russia. Characteristics in fact were laid about thirty years ago, so there is nothing to be surprised. However, this is not all that you can learn about the only nuclear aircraft carrier currently in the Russian Navy.

Armament

Given the fact that this ship is combat, he has on board a large set of various weapons, it is about him now will be discussed. "Admiral Kuznetsov" boasts the navigation system "Beisur", which allows you to conduct the most targeted fire. Before looking directly at the guns, it is worth looking at radar devices too - they are enough on the ship. On board there are seven different radars for general detection, as well as two aviation control stations. Also worth paying attention to radio electronics - on board there is a combat information-control system "Logger", communication complex "Buran-2" and much more.

Well, now you can pay attention to weapons - in the first place it is worth noting six anti-aircraft artillery installations, designed for 48 thousand shells. Of missile weapons aboard the ship there are 12 Granit launchers, 4 Kortik anti-aircraft missile systems and four Dagger launchers. The ship has a way of attacking or protecting against submarines - these are two reactive complexes designed for sixty bombs.

Aviation Group

Separately, it is worth looking at the aircraft-carrying component of technical characteristics. "Admiral Kuznetsov" is designed for fifty aircraft, which could be transported on board. Moreover, it was assumed that helicopters would also be present there. However, in reality everything turned out to be a little different, and to date, this ship serves as the base for only thirty aircraft, most of which are Su-33 and MiG-29K.

Future plans

But what's next? Will a new nuclear aircraft carrier of Russia appear? Or will Admiral Kuznetsov remain the sole representative for a long time? Just ten years ago, the Russians hoped for the upcoming revision of the decree, which took place in 2009. As in the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the formation of the Russian Federation, so ten years ago the government had no plans at all for this segment of the military market. At the same time, the main competitor, the United States of America, launched the tenth full-fledged nuclear aircraft carrier. But what happened in 2009? The plan was already drawn up before 2020, and there were still no nuclear carriers there. So the new nuclear aircraft carrier of Russia has not appeared even on paper yet - it exists only in words, and even then in the press, and not in the statements of official authorized persons.

Prototypes

In fact, work on the design of aircraft carriers is already under way, but the Russian Navy will receive a new generation of a nuclear aircraft carrier a very short time. Certainly not in 2020. In some cases, sources report that other countries are working on aircraft carriers for Russia, but most often a message appears with a picture of the project of how the Russian nuclear-powered aircraft carriers will look. The photo shows a model of a ship that could carry a huge number of aircraft due to the abandonment of a bulky basic structure and replacing it with small control towers.

The commission of Medvedev

However, people's hopes were revived in 2015, when Dmitry Medvedev instructed the Ministry of Defense to start developing a plan for the introduction of nuclear aircraft carriers. This will not be the easiest task for the reason that you already know - full-fledged ships of this type in the territory of the Russian Federation and even the former Soviet Union have never been built. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is not the same as the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser, so the technology will have to be used quite differently. However, one way or another, the most optimistic forecasts report that by 2020 a plan for the creation of the first nuclear aircraft carriers intended for the Russian Navy may be proposed.