English version of a “Izvestia” article on the possible shape of future Russian aircraft carrier
[SIZE=”3″]What Will the Future Aircraft Carrier Look Like?
Russia will begin construction of aircraft carrying cruisers in the very near future. The supreme commander, Russian president Dmitriy Medvedev, has given such a task to defense minister Anatoliy Serdyukov. However, the last, and it at this stage is the only one in the Russian fleet, aircraft carrying cruiser, the “Admiral Kuznetsov,” left the berth as early as 1985. How is one to make up for the time lost?
If we begin now, then the first results won’t be achieved until 2013 – 2015, Medvedev assumes. But what kind? In the opinion of experts questioned by Izvestiya, the aircraft carrying cruiser of the future should be universal, on the one hand it is not to be inferior technologically to American aircraft carriers, and on the other hand, it should be able to stand up for itself. That is, not simply be a floating airfield, but also have strike weapons and self-defense systems. And, indisputably, possess an atomic power plant.
The aircraft carrying cruiser is not an aircraft carrier in the American sense of this word. Most of all it is a floating airfield for them. We call the “Admiral Kuznetsov” a cruiser with aviation equipment. While this is paradoxical, the main systems for carrying out a battle at sea on the “Kuznetsov” is not airplanes, but “Granit” long-range cruise missiles. Their silos are hidden directly beneath the ship’s flight deck. Moreover, there is a rather powerful air defense system on the cruiser which allows it to operate fully autonomously.
Why such a difference? According to one of the legends, Admiral Sergey Gorshkov, whom they consider the founder of the Soviet navy, did not want to make Soviet ships similar to the Americans in any way. The aircraft carriers of that time were called no doubt an “implement of worldwide imperialism.” If designers had called the heavy aircraft carrying cruiser in those days and “aircraft carrier,” then the party leadership would rashly deprive the project of financing. The admiral could not allow this. As his fellow servicemen remember it, Gorshkov introduced a new class of ships for the domestic navy at his own determination, the “aircraft carrying cruiser.” Having received a dual designation, it also obtained dual functions: there was a takeoff platform and at the same time an escort ship for the air wing.
After the breakup of the USSR, there were neither enough troops nor funds for aircraft carrying cruisers. They have been addressing the need for resurrecting the aircraft carrying fleet only recently. For example, navy commander-in-chief Vladimir Vysotskiy also declared that Russia needs at a minimum six such ships, three each for the Northern and Pacific fleets. In which connection, they are not only aircraft carriers in today’s meaning of this word, but maritime aircraft carrying systems.
“Everything has to work in the system, including aircraft carriers,” the CinC reported. – “We have named it the maritime aircraft carrying system (MAS.) The ships will cooperate closely with the space cluster. Moreover, the aircraft carrying systems are supposed to operate to the same degree of close contact with the air force and air defense forces. Scientific research work is on-going at the present time.
The state arms program to 2015 puts the upgrade of the fleet on the same level as the development of the strategic nuclear deterrent forces. That is, it is without a doubt a priority. Of the 4.9 trillion rubles being allocated altogether for reequipping the military, 25 percent is supposed to go for renovation of the navy’s ship component. By 2010, it is planned to increase by 1 1/2 times in Russia the amount of military ship construction. For the first time in 15 years, the fleet has laid out a whole series of 40 frigates. There has been no discussion up to now about funds for the aircraft carriers.
One of the problems is that right now there simply is nowhere to build them. Although, before this, when Medvedev announced the need to resurrect the aircraft carrying fleet, they began to erect a floating dock in Severodvinsk which is capable of supporting construction of ships with water displacement of more than 100,000 tonnes. It is planned to spend nearly 500 million dollars from the budget on the dock. This dock will be able to produce both tankers and dry cargo ships and, apparently, it will be possible to begin creation of new aircraft carrying cruisers only with its help.
The project for such cruisers has been in development since 2005. According to the sailors, the length of the aircraft carrying cruisers is not less than 100 meters, and on board there should be a place to locate from 30 to 40 flight vehicles. The cost of one aircraft carrier is nearly two billion dollars. So, apparently, the re-armament program must be supplemented in order to build something.
“Of course we need aircraft carrying cruisers, and I think the decision about the start of the construction is very correct,” the former Northern Fleet commander, Vyacheslav Popov, declared to Izvestiya. – Russia always has and will have geopolitical interests in the world, and one can assert them with the aid of the fleet.”
What became of the Soviet aircraft carrying cruisers?
By the start of the 1980s there were four “Baku” type aircraft carrying cruisers in the USSR. Up to 34 flight vehicles were based on each of them: 18 Ka-25 and Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopters and 16 Yak-38 fighters with vertical takeoff. Construction of project 1143.6 aircraft carrying cruisers, with a normal, straight deck, which allowed deploying Su-33 fighters on the ships, was begun in parallel with them. However, by the time of the break-up of the USSR, we were able to introduce only one into service, the “Admiral Kuznetsov.” The “Varyag,” which was 70 percent completed, was cut into “needles;” and the same thing happened with the “Ul’yanovsk” atomic ((powered)) aircraft carrying cruiser. The fate of the four “Baku” ships is even more lamentable. The “forgot” to create berths for them. As a result, the ships were constantly in port ((NA REYDE)), using up their service life, and as a result they were written off for “aging” early.
Source: 14.10.08, Izvestiya, Correspondent: Dmitriy Litovkin
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