Russia's only aircraft carrier - Admiral Kuznetsov may no longer be operational again.
The aircraft carrier has suffered back to back accidents in the last 2 years and is
out of the service for a long time.
An assessment by the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet estimates the damage at 95 billion roubles
(over $1.5 billion).
The repair cost is almost as much the current value of the warship.
It is estimated that the ship which has seen such a long service life and has significant
wear & tears in the hull is worth 110 billion rubles (around $1.76 billion) excluding its
weapons.
Viewers may note that the warship has been facing major issues since 2016 and had to
accompanied by thug boats.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes why Russia may have finally given up on its troubled
aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov?
Let's get started.
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Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier has been serving as the flagship of the Russian Navy.
The ship was named after Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov
who served in the Soviet Navy during the Second World War.
It was launched in 1985 and commissioned on 25 December 1990.
The Kuznetsov-class aircraft carriers were the last class of aircraft carriers designed
for the Soviet Navy.
She was built by the Black Sea Shipyard, the sole manufacturer of Soviet aircraft carriers,
in Mykolaiv within the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Two hulls were laid down in the Ukrainia before the Soviet Union collapsed.
Kuznetsov serves today in the Russian Navy.
It has a displacement of around 55,000 tonnes and a length of around 304 m
To give viewers a perspective, American Nimitz class carriers have a displacement of around
100,000 tonnes and is 30 meters longer.
Kuznetsov is powered by 6 diesel generators.
Admiral Kuznetsov can accommodate an air wind with 30 fighters which is significantly lower
than Nimitz class's capability which can hold over 70 aircraft.
It carries MiG-29K and Su-33 fighter planes.
These are 4th generation aircraft and very capable once.
Admiral Kuznetsov uses ski ramp to assist aircraft takeoffs, unlike the steam-powered
catapult system to launch aircraft.
It is fitted with several kinds of weapons which includes
6 × AK-630 AA guns 8 × CADS-N-1 Kashtan CIWS (Close In Weapon
System) 12 × P-700 Granit SSM
Earlier reports indicate that there were plans to upgrade the armament and outfit it with
Kalibr-NK class cruise missiles, Onyx supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles and the Zircon advanced
hypersonic missiles, which reached a speed of 8 Mach in a recent test.
On 30 October 2018, Admiral Kuznetsov suffered a major mishap while undergoing overhaul work
at a dockyard in Roslyakovo, near Murmansk.
The aircraft carrier nearly sank.
The Kuznetsov was stationed inside floating dock PD-50.
The dock capable of handling vessels up to 80,000 tons is the biggest one Russia had
and one of the largest in the world.
On 30 Oct, the dock's tank started to take in water and led to the tilting of the dock
on one side.
One of the PD-50’s two cranes which are 70-ton each fell on the deck of the Kuznetsov.
This resulted in a hole of 4 by 5 meters.
The second crane also got imbalanced and as per some reports fell in the sea.
Somehow PD-50 did not capsize and as the water filled the dock, Kuznetsov floated and was
tugged out.
In about 4 hours, PD 50 went down and sank.
The disaster could be have been even more catastrophic if Kuznetsov was not moved out.
Currently, the carrier is being repaired in Russia's Arctic port in Murmansk, also known
as the Barents Sea port.
This is where a new accident took place.
On December 12, 2019, a fire broke out during welding work to repair an electrical compartment
on the ship’s lower deck, where several cables caught fire.
The fire spread to roughly 600 square meters OR (6,458 square feet), and several repair
personnel suffered injuries.
Reports suggest that new equipment that had been delivered for the rework but yet to be
installed was also damaged due to this latest mishap.
Admiral Kuznetsov is known to produce a lot of smoke and it can be identified from long
distances because of this.
One of the main reason is because of the use of Mazut.
Mazut is a heavy petrochemical fuel and if not properly utilized, produces a lot of smoke.
Reports in Russian media indicate that the workmanship and quality of the material used
in the carrier are not up to the mark.
Admiral Valentin Selivanov had said, “From the very beginning, poor quality pipes were
installed in her boilers.”
He also described the problems faced during Kuznetsov's 1990s sea trials.
According to him, due to the problems with the pipes, not all boilers could run at full
capacity all the time, they would often break down and sometimes the ship was reduced to
operating on one boiler, giving it a speed of around 4 knots
So, it is not surprising that Admiral Kuznetsov has seen many embarrassing malfunctions in
recent years and it has been pictured with a tugboat many a time.
The PD-50 loss in the first accident was a big blow since it had no easy replacement.
Most of Russia’s big surface ships were built in Soviet times which includes the Kuznetsov.
The constructions of these vessels were carried out in the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv which
is now in Ukraine.
Currently, Mykolaiv’s large shipbuilding docks are unavailable to Russia because of
its conflict with Ukraine.
The PD-50 was the only floating dock in northern Russia that can handle Kuznetsov or the nuclear
battlecruiser Pyotr Veliki.
Pyotr Veliki is also scheduled for an overhaul.
Russia’s state-owned shipbuilding monopoly, the United Shipbuilding Corporation had made
a statement that damage to Kuznetsov was manageable and would “not undermine plans to return
the vessel back to active service in 2021.”
In May 2019, it was revealed that the replacement of PD-50 will be accomplished by merging and
enlarging two dry docks.
Reports indicate that not everyone in the Russian power circle wants to go ahead with
the repair of the troubled warship.
Several important people have opined that the money could be better utilized to build
a pair of frigates or a nuclear submarine
Others support building a new carrier.
There are already two competing designs being talked of.
Both the proposed carrier one named the Storm and other the Lamantin are nuclear powered.
The Project 23000 “Storm” designed by Krylov’s state scientific center has a length
of 330 meters and displacement of 100,000 tonnes.
It is estimated to be able to carry around 90 aircraft.
The Lamantin from the Nevskoye design bureau will displace 90,000 tons of water and will
be able to embark around as 60 aircraft.
Several other smaller designs are also being looked at.
Admiral Kuznetsov has got into one problem after the other.
It has never-ending lingering issues.
Several sources indicate that since it's a matter of national pride, Russia may still
get the Admiral Kuznetsov repaired.
But on a purely technical basis, it could be a more sensible decision to go for an entirely
new aircraft carrier or build other kinds of assets like a submarine.
Maintaining and operating an aircraft carrier is not an easy task, it needs strong air defenses
and has to be accompanied by numerous escort ships.
It is to be noted that Russia’s Defense Budget is around 10% of the American defense
budget.
It remains to be seen what call Russian decision makers especially President Putin take on this.