Russia to Build New Aircraft Carrier

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia to Build New Aircraft Carrier

Russia will build a new aircraft carrier, Rosbalt reported. Its specification has been the highlight of recent meeting of high-ranked officers of Russia's Navy and shipbuilding leaders, which was chaired by the RF Navy Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Masorin. Having an aircraft carrier in Russia's Navy would be quite reasonable, the meeting participants specified, according to Navy's briefer Igor Dygalo. Experience of using them in foreign fleets is also to the credit of this undertaking, the briefer pointed out.

Russia's Defense Ministry and Navy have often emphasized the need of having from three to four aircraft carriers.

Severodvinsk is the most probable place, where new aircraft carriers will finally emerge. There, a dock is being constructed that would allow to build surface ships of over 100,000-ton displacement.

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia To Boost Naval Fleet - 6 Aircraft Carriers By 2020

Ocean Fleet in 20 Yrs to Reach USSR Time's Level

The Russian fleet is to receive six full-fledged aircraft-carrying attack groups within the next twenty years with additional forces and one aircraft-carrier in each, the Russian Fleet's Commander-in-Chief Admiral Vladimir Masorin told reporters on Tuesday.

Three attack groups are to be based in the Northern Fleet with three others in the Pacific Fleet. This number of ships will make it possible to keep two aircraft-carrying vessels on duty and two more in alertness while two others can undergo repair and modernization works.

The new vessels will exceed the number of aircraft-carriers of the Soviet fleet in the late 1980s with four heavy carriers, Kiev, Minsk, Novorossiysk and Baku.

The construction of the first new aircraft-carrying ship for the fleet is to start in the next decade. Until then, Russian is going to start using a new series of surface battleships to accompany the aircraft-carriers, fight planes and submarines. Russia is also going to build a flight simulator for pilots of seaborne aircrafts to replace an old one situated in Ukraine.

The reform will raise the fleet to 300 battleships. The share of vessels in the ocean zone will grow dramatically.

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		Russia
		Russia to finalize plans for new aircraft carrier by 2012
		15:57 | 28/ 04/ 2009

ISTANBUL, April 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will finish drafting plans for a new aircraft carrier for its Navy by 2012, a deputy defense minister for procurements said on Tuesday.

"We are planning to resolve all the issues in 2010-2011, and after that we will make a final decision. At this point it is necessary to determine all technical specifications of the ship and the means of achieving them.

Simultaneously, we have to decide on the strategic uses of aircraft carriers in the future," Vladimir Popovkin said.

So far the Russian Navy only has one aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, built in 1985, with a displacement of 55,000 metric tons, a crew of 1,500, and capability to carry more than 50 aircraft.

Vice Adm. Anatoly Shlemov, the head of defense contracts at the United Shipbuilding Corporation, said in February that Russia's new-generation aircraft carrier would most likely be nuclear-powered, and have a displacement of up to 60,000 metric tons.

He added that the new carrier would serve as a seaborne platform for new-generation fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft, in particular a fifth-generation fighter set to replace the Su-33 multirole fighter aircraft currently in service, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

Shlemov said that unlike in the past, the new aircraft carrier would not be armed with cruise missiles, which were not part of its "job description."

He also said that at least three such carriers were to be built, for the Northern and Pacific Fleets.

Shlemov offered no timeline on the project, saying it was not as yet clear which shipyard would get the contract.

The new carrier has an estimated price tag of $4 billion.

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Admiral Gorshkov delivery to India in 2012: Russia

21 Apr 2009, 1452 hrs IST, IANS


MOSCOW: Russia will deliver the modernized Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier to the Indian Navy in 2012, a senior shipbuilding industry official has said.

"Under an agreement with India, the aircraft will be delivered in 2012. Almost 2,000 highly-qualified workers are currently involved in the overhaul (of the ship)," Vladimir Pakhomov, the president of Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation, said in an interview published Tuesday in the Vremya Novostei newspaper.

"We will increase the number of workers and speed up the work, making sure that it does not affect the quality. We are continuing talks with Indian officials about the additional financing of the project," he added.

The original $1.5 billion contract signed in 2004 between Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport and the Indian Navy envisioned that work on the aircraft carrier would be completed in 2008.

Of the contracted amount, $750 million was for the retrofit of the carrier, docked at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia for the past 12 years. The balance was for modern weaponry, including MiG-29K Fulcrum aircraft and Ka-27 Helix-A and Ka-31 Helix-B anti-submarine helicopters.

Russia later claimed it had underestimated the scale and the cost of the modernization and demanded an additional $1.2 billion, which New Delhi said was "exorbitant".

The Admiral Gorshkov, renamed INS Vikramaditya, is to replace India's INS Viraat carrier that is currently operational but is now 50 years old.

After modernisation, the Gorshkov is expected to be seaworthy for 30 years.

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Admiral Kuznetsov



Heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser, project 1143.5, known in the West as "Kuznetsov" class, "Orel" class or as type 1143.5, was built in the Black Sea shipbuilding plant in Nikolaev. The project was developed on the basis of the previous TAKR named "Admiral Gorshkov" (formerly "Baku"), project 1143.4, which was finished in 1982, but exceeds it in displacement (58,500 tons in comparison with 40,000 tons) and it has a somewhat lower speed (30 units in comparison with 32 in "Admiral Gorshkov").



The aircraft carrier "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union, Kuznetsov" (project 1143.5) was launched in 1985, and the second ship of the same type "Varyag" in 1988, but its building was not completed.



Project 1143.5 can lend support to the submarines, which carry ballistic missiles, surface ships and the sea rocket-carrying aviation of Russian fleet. Ship can strike above-water, underwater and aerial targets.



Length 302,3 m
Length in the water line 270 m
Width 72,3 m
Width in the water line 35,4 m
Sediment 9,14 m
Crew 1,960

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia To Start Building Naval Pilot Training Center In 2010

Russia is planning to start construction of a naval pilot training facility on the Sea of Azov in southern Russia in 2010, the Kommersant business daily reported on Wednesday.

The Russian Navy earlier said the new facility was necessary to ensure consistent training of naval pilots for an air wing based on board the Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia's only operational aircraft carrier, and future aircraft carriers.

At present, Russia uses a naval pilot training center on the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine as the only training facility for its naval pilots, but Kiev has recently been less willing to allow Russian pilots to train at the facility and, according to some sources, is planning to rent it to China.

The center, known as Nitka, was built in the Soviet era for aircraft pilots to practice their skills in taking off from and landing on an aircraft carrier's deck.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in early 1990s, the facility remained under Ukrainian jurisdiction. The Ukrainian Navy does not have an aircraft carrier.

The Nitka center provides naval aviation training facilities such as a launch pad, an aerofinisher, a trampoline, a catapult launching device, a glide-path localizer, a marker beacon, and an optical landing system.

The new center will be built at an old airfield near the town of Eisk on the Sea of Azov, which is separated from the Black Sea by the Kerch Strait between the Crimean and Taman peninsulas.

According to the head of Russia's naval pilot training, Col. Alexander Mudrenov, the new center will cost some 24 billion rubles ($730 million) and will take two years to complete.

Russia is planning to finish drafting plans for a new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for its Navy by 2012 and build at least three of the ships for its Northern and Pacific fleets.

[Ryan Ruck]

Russian Navy To Buy 24 Mig-29K Carrier-Based Fighters

October 9, 2009

Russia's Navy will buy at least 24 MiG-29K (Fulcrum-D) fighters to be deployed on the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, an unnamed Defense Ministry official said on Friday.

He added that deliveries of the carrier-based multirole fighters would start in 2010.

The MiGs will subsequently replace the Su-33 (Flanker-D) carrier-based fighters, even though their service life does not expire until 2025.

Military analyst Konstantin Makiyenko suggested that production of new Su-33 aircraft was possible but not cost-effective, given the small production volumes, whereas considering that India has already contracted 16 MiG-29K's and could place an order for another 28, the latter option is more financially viable.

The 24 aircraft will cost an estimated $1 billion.

[Ryan Ruck]

Russian Navy To Receive New Carrier-Based Fighters

1/15/2010

Russia's Navy will take delivery of the first MiG-29K (Fulcrum-D) fighters later this year, a Navy official said on Friday.

"This year we are planning to buy the first batch of several machines," he said.

He did not give an exact figure for the fighters, which are due to be deployed on the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier.

The Navy earlier said it would buy a total of 24 MiG-29Ks in the next three to four years.

The military official said the Navy was currently using MiG-29K carrier-based multirole fighters and the more advanced Su-33 (Flanker-D) fighters, which will subsequently replace the MiGs.

"The Su-33s' service life is to expire in 2015, but we intend to extend it through 2025," he said.

Military analyst Konstantin Makiyenko has suggested that production of new Su-33 aircraft is possible but not cost-effective, given the small production volumes, whereas considering that India has already contracted 16 MiG-29Ks and could place an order for another 28, the latter option is more financially viable.

The 24 aircraft will cost an estimated $1 billion.

[Ryan Ruck]

A huge upgrade is in store for the Admiral K.

Moscow Set To Upgrade Admiral Kuznetsov Aircraft Carrier

4/6/2010

The Fleet Admiral of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov, currently the only aircraft carrier serving as the flagship of the Russian Navy, will be upgraded, the media reported, quoting Navy sources. The aircraft carrier, due to enter a dry dock in 2012, will be re-launched in 2017.

Originally laid as the Leonid Brezhnev in 1982, launched as the Riga in 1985 and renamed as the Tbilisi in 1987, the warship received her current name in 1990. Western analysts call her a ship of a thousand names.

The Admiral Kuznetsov entered service with the Russian Navy in 1991 and was used for the operation of deck aircraft, the development of new tactics, including those for dealing with carriers of theoretical enemies.

In the late 1990s and the early 2000s, it was repeatedly proposed that the Admiral Kuznetsov, which remained moored for long time periods, be decommissioned and sold for scrap.

However, an improved situation in the country gave the ship a new lease of life. Her propulsion unit and other equipment were repaired, and she started taking part in various high seas war games more often.

In the mid-2000s, Navy representatives and Russian political leaders once again started speaking of the need to build aircraft carriers for the Navy. Moscow decided to preserve the Admiral Kuznetsov, used to train deck aircraft pilots.

The upcoming large-scale modernization was motivated by the need to eliminate the ship's inherent drawbacks and to repair some of her units. Plans for docking the ship in 2010-2012 were discussed more frequently and have now been confirmed.

Although it is hard to assess the revamped carrier's specifications, her future appearance can be predicted on the basis of available reports.

First of all, the defective propulsion unit comprising steam turbines and turbo-pressurized boilers will be replaced either with a gas-turbine or nuclear propulsion unit.

The ship's 3M45 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) anti-ship cruise-missile launchers will be dismantled, and her internal layout changed. Consequently, the hangar area will be expanded to 4,500-5,000 sq. m. for storing additional fixed-wing aircraft.

The Admiral Kuznetsov's air defenses will be strengthened by replacing 3K95 Kinzhal (SA-N-9 Gauntlet) missiles with a multi-role naval system featuring 80-120 new-generation and medium-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).

Moreover, 4-6 Pantsir-S1 (SA-22 Greyhound) combined short to medium-range SAM and anti-aircraft artillery weapons systems will be installed.

The new weapons systems will feature state-of-the-art radio-electronic equipment, probably including the standard Sigma combat information and control system, due to be installed on all new generation Russian warships. The system facilitates unprecedentedly effective cooperation between task force elements.

The carrier will also receive aircraft catapults, a logical option. Considering the fact that her ski-jump will remain intact, one or two catapults can be located on the angled flight deck.

A similar engineering solution was envisioned for the incomplete Ulyanovsk super-carrier, whose keel was laid down in 1988, but the project was cancelled when it was 40% complete along with a sister ship in 1991 after the end of the Cold War.

By that time, the Soviet Union had developed steam catapults and tested an experimental version at the ground-based NITKA training facility incorporating a ski-jump and deck arrestor. Consequently, this task is feasible.

The choice of catapults is linked with the choice of the ship's propulsion unit. Steam catapults require a nuclear propulsion unit, while a gas turbine propulsion unit leaves no choice but electromagnetic catapults. Moscow will either have to develop such catapults independently or buy them abroad, or ... copy them illegally.

The carrier's air wing is to comprise 26 new Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29K Fulcrum-D multi-role fighter aircraft, helicopters and navalized Sukhoi T-50 PAK FA (Future Frontline Aircraft System) fifth-generation fighters, currently under development. It appears that 15-20 of these aircraft will be built pending the ship's re-launching, which is likely to take place in 2020 rather than 2017.

[Ryan Ruck]

Russian Aircraft Carrier Blueprint To Be Ready By Yearend - Navy Chief

August 3, 2010

A technical design for a new-generation aircraft carrier will be ready by the end of the year, the head of the Russian Navy said on Monday, according to RIA Novosti.

In an interview with RIA Novosti, Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said several organizations were working on the warship's design, including the Severnoye and the Nevskoye design bureaus.

He said it was too early to say what the new aircraft carrier will look like or what its specifications will be.

"Not even with regard to its displacement. The designers have been given a number of requirements. If they manage to pack everything into a matchbox, they are welcome," he said.

Some Navy experts believe the future aircraft carrier will be nuclear-powered with a displacement of 50,000-60,000 tons.

The admiral said the Russian Navy needs carrier battle groups.

"If, for example, we do not have an aircraft carrier in the North, the battle capability of the Northern Fleet's guided-missile submarines will be reduced to zero after Day One because the submarines' principal adversary is aviation," he said.

Vysotsky stressed that a special state program was needed for an aircraft carrier to be built.

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia's Sukhoi Begins Su-33 Flanker-D Trials

October 5, 2010

Russia's Sukhoi aircraft holding revealed on Tuesday it has begun ground and flight trials of the modernized fourth generation Su-33 naval fighter.

The Su-33 Flanker-D is a carrier-based warplane, originally known as the Su-27K Flanker, which first rolled off the production line in the late 1980s.

Modernization works and trials are being carried out in the Russian Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a statement from Sukhoi said.

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Russia's Admiral Kuznetsov Aircraft Carrier Begins Combat Operations in Syria

© Sputnik/ Russian Defense Ministry Military & Intelligence 14:23 15.11.2016(updated 19:01 15.11.2016)



Russian Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft-carrying cruiser has begun combat operations in Syria, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday.

"Today, we started a major operation to launch massive strikes on Daesh and al-Nusra Front targets in the Idlib and Homs provinces [in Syria]," Shoigu said at Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with the ministry’s leadership and defense enterprises. "

The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrying cruiser began taking part in operations for the first time in the history of the Russian Navy.

Our Su-33 aircraft began working from this cruiser today. Before this, we carried out very careful, thorough reconnaissance of all targets," Shoigu said.

According to the minister, the main targets include ammunition depots as well as plants producing weapons. Sukhoi Su-33 Flanker-D fighters aboard the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov (File) Website Dover-Marina.com Aircraft of Russia's Admiral Kuznetsov Carrier Group Start Flights Shoigu also said that Russian naval task force in Syria is reliably protected by Bastion Coastal Defense Missile Systems and Pantsir systems.

On November 8, it was reported that Russian Navy's aircraft carrier group, which includes Russia's 'Admiral Kuznetsov' aircraft carrier, 'Pyotr Veliky' nuclear power guided missile cruiser and two destroyers, had completed its transfer to the Mediterranean Sea and group was getting ready to launch a strike targeting Daesh terrorists in the province of Aleppo. On November 12, the commander of the Admiral Kuznetsov said that aea-based jets of the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov which arrived in the Syrian coast heading a group of the Russian Northern Fleet's squadron started training flights.