In 1938, the Soviet Naval High Command
ordered an aircraft carrier to be designed
and included in the Soviet shipbuilding program.
By July 1939, engineers had prepared the first
preliminary design project, named "71A."
She was an escort and anti-aircraft low-displacement carrier
based on the Project 68 light cruiser.
In December of the same year,
another project designated "71B" was ready—
she was a large-displacement aircraft carrier
for the Northern and Far-Eastern naval theaters.
Project 71B was intended to be an aircraft carrier
of the main naval forces with the task of providing
air support for naval operations.
To enable this, she carried the maximum possible number
of airplanes on board with the best possible placement.
The operational elements of the Soviet large aircraft carrier
weren't inferior to those of HMS Ark Royal,
USS Yorktown, and German Graf Zeppelin at that time.
However, in 1940, Soviet industry was hastily shifting toward military needs,
so further work on Project 71B was canceled
in accordance with the decision made by the People's Commissariat
of the Shipbuilding Industry.
But her story doesn't end there.
Captains! You now have a real chance to test this ship
on the high seas of World of Warships—
Soviet aircraft carrier Chkalov is entering the game at Tier VIII!
Chkalov continues to follow the concept of Soviet aircraft carriers—
"one flight, one powerful strike"—
but she differs from the other carriers by her squadron composition.
Chkalov carries skip bombers and torpedo bombers,
and she has standard bombers instead of attack aviation.
Now I'll tell you how to determine your combat tactics.
First of all, Chkalov has decent concealment
that allows her to take up an advantageous position
and attack enemies with frequent and fast aerial raids.
Chkalov's torpedo and skip bomber squadrons
are capable of attacking enemies from afar,
and this means that they only need to stay
within the enemy AA defense area just for a short period of time.
If you decide to attack with skip bombers,
it's better to strike the sides of enemies to deal maximum damage.
These squadrons are most effective against low-mobility targets.
Make sure you don't neglect enemy AA defenses,
because every airplane you lose
decreases the maximum damage that you can inflict.
We also advise that you preserve your bombers—
Chkalov lacks an attack aviation squadron,
so her bombers may be quite helpful
when fighting against mobile targets.
What else do we need to mention?
Chkalov has powerful AA defenses,
but the not-so-high speed of her aviation should also be considered.
This is partially offset by the greater number
of planes per flight and use of jet boosters.
As far as upgrades go, we recommend Air Groups Modification 1;
Aircraft Engines Modification 1;
Aerial Torpedoes Modification 1;
Bombers Modification 2 or Skip Bombers Modification 1;
and Flight Control Modification 1.
To finish up, it's time for the traditional Armada raffle.
To take part in the raffle, you need to do three things:
Subscribe to our channel. Like this video.
And answer the following question correctly—
what number designation was given to the preliminary design project
that is now presented in World of Warships
as Soviet aircraft carrier Chkalov?
Most importantly, don't forget to correctly specify your in-game nickname
and the server you play on in the comment with your answer.
By the next Armada episode,
we'll have randomly selected a winner and credited an Admiral Pack
that includes aircraft carrier Chkalov, a 10-skill-point commander,
the Forward Bound permanent camouflage, a commemorative flag,
and other useful items to their account.
Participate in the raffle and good luck, Captains!