Hi everyone.
Welcome back to another episode of Military TV, in today’s episode, we will be discussing
why Russian aircraft carrier works quite differently than that of others’, in which they don’t
have a catapult system.
If you are curious of the answer, do not go anywhere and stay tuned.
Aircrafts usually utilize the long and wide runway to accumulate the speed they need in
order to take off safely.
Hence, in a relatively small-sized aircraft carrier, there has to be a mechanism in which
an aircraft can depart harmlessly in such short runway.
Here is where the catapult system comes into play.
The catapult system is one of the most important tools an aircraft relies on in the event of
takeoffs and landings, because instead of distance, the mechanism laid out in a catapult
system allows an aircraft to accumulate enough speed in order to soar from the carrier.
So, if catapult is such an essential tool for an aircraft carrier, why the Russian doesn’t
have it?
It is argued that from the Soviet era, the Russian has never considered to become a naval
power since they were already a land power, and that can be seen from the comparatively
backward technology they have for the naval fleet, compared to monstrous carrier strike
group the United States has.
Currently, the Russian only have one aircraft carrier in service, it is the heavy oil-fueled
Admiral Kuznetsov.
It was known to be repaired prior to rejoining the fleet in 2021.
The vessel has a length of 284 meters, beam of 72.3 meter and draught of 9.14 meter with
the full load displacement of 55,000 tonnage.
The reason why Kuznetsov doesn’t use the catapult system is no other because it uses
what is called as ski-jump at the end of its bow.
Same like Chinese and Indian, Russian navies operate conventional aircraft from STOBAR
aircraft carriers (Short Take-Off But Arrested Landing), as it is assisted with a ski-jump
angled at 12°.
A ski-jump is an upward-curved ramp used in aviation to allow planes to take off from
a runway that is shorter than the aircraft's needed takeoff roll.
When departing, aircrafts speed up toward and up the ski-jump using their afterburners.
This will result in the condition of the aircraft leaving the deck at a higher angle and elevation,
different from those carriers with flat decks and catapults.
Because the acceleration is lower, the ski-jump take-off is less taxing on the pilot, but
it results in a clearance speed of just 120–140 km/h (75–87 mph), necessitating an aircraft
design that won't stall at those speeds.
The Russian may not have the sophisticated and state-of-the-art aircraft carrier comparable
to giant power like the US now, but they are reportedly have commenced research on engine
designs for Russia’s planned nuclear-powered supercarrier, dubbed Project 23000E Shtorm
(Storm), according to the chief of the Russian Navy’s shipbuilding department, Rear Admiral
Vladimir Tryapichnikov in one of his 2018 interview.
St. Petersburg-based Nevskoye Planning and Design bureau, Russia’s primary designer
of large surface warships, was known to have undertaken the principal design work for the
new carrier.
The news incites the question whether a Russian nuclear-powered aircraft carrier project will
ever move beyond the design stage and whether the Russian Navy has a need for an aircraft
carrier.
On the other hand, according to some other sources, the planned nuclear-powered aircraft
carrier will predictably be equipped with both ski-jump and an electromagnetic catapult
launch system.
That’s all for today, thank you for watching and see you in the next episode.