TASS that the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the United Shipbuilding Corporation signed a contract for the repair of the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov.

As Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Yuri Borisov previously reported, the repair of the ship is expected to be completed in 2020, and its return to service is scheduled for 2021. Repair work will be carried out at the 35th shipyard in Murmansk (a branch of the Zvyozdochka Ship Repair Center).

The TASS-DOSIER editors have prepared a certificate about the aircraft carrier.

"Admiral of the Fleet Soviet Union Kuznetsov" is a heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser (TAKR). As of 2018, it is the largest ship and the only aircraft carrier of the Russian Navy (Navy). It is part of the Northern Fleet, the flagship of the Navy. On February 23, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded the TAKR with an order Ushakov (for merits in strengthening the country's defense capability, high performance combat training, courage and heroism shown by personnel during the performance of combat missions).

Project history

In the post-war period, the leadership of the USSR, the Ministry of Defense and the Navy did not have a unified view on the need for aircraft carriers and possible ways their applications. Some politicians, industrialists and military leaders (including Defense Minister Marshal Andrei Grechko and Minister of the Shipbuilding Industry Boris Butoma) advocated the construction of large nuclear aircraft carriers similar to the American Nimitz type.

Opponents (among them - Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Sergei Gorshkov and Dmitry Ustinov, who replaced Grechko as Minister of Defense in 1976) pointed to the high cost of the program for building aircraft carriers, the lack of a clear concept for their use and focused on the development of the submarine fleet, primarily nuclear submarines. As a result, until the 1980s, the USSR Navy did not have aircraft carriers designed for aircraft with horizontal takeoff and landing.

For anti-submarine warfare, which was declared a priority for the surface forces of the USSR Navy, anti-submarine cruisers of projects 1123 and 1143 were built, on which helicopters were based, as well as Yak-38 vertical take-off and landing aircraft. In terms of combat capabilities, these machines were inferior to conventional aircraft, which forced the leadership of the Navy in the early 1970s to return to plans to create a large aircraft carrier capable of providing aviation combat operations at a considerable distance from the fleet bases.

It was proposed to build a nuclear aircraft carrier with a displacement of up to 80 thousand tons, with an aircraft fleet of up to 70 aircraft(project 1160 "Eagle"). In the future, the project was subjected to numerous changes, in the late 1970s, work on it was discontinued. Instead, it was decided to build an aircraft carrier, based on the Project 1143 aircraft-carrying cruiser and equipping it with equipment for takeoff and landing of "conventional" aircraft. Also, the developers refused to use a nuclear power plant.

Project 11435 was developed in the early 1980s at the Nevsky Design Bureau (Leningrad, now St. Petersburg) under the leadership of chief designer Vasily Anikiev. During the design process, specialists refused to install catapults on the ship - instead, the aircraft carrier is equipped with a bow springboard, which limits the take-off weight of aircraft.

In addition, powerful strike weapons were installed on the aircraft carrier - P-700 Granit missiles. As a result, project 11435 was classified by the Navy as a "heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser" (TAKR; according to another version, this was done to circumvent the provisions of the Montreux Convention on the status of the Black Sea straits, which prohibited the passage of aircraft carriers through them).

Initially, it was supposed to name the lead ship "Soviet Union" (in the 1930s, the same name was supposed to be given to the first Soviet-built battleship, not completed due to the beginning of the Great Patriotic War). In 1982, the aircraft carrier was named "Riga" (traditionally, Soviet aircraft carriers were named after the capitals of the Union republics). At the end of 1982, it was renamed "Leonid Brezhnev" (after the death of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Central Committee of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union). In 1987, at the beginning of perestroika and the condemnation of the "era of stagnation", TAKR changed its name to "Tbilisi". Since October 1990 - "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov" - in honor of Nikolai Kuznetsov, who headed the USSR Navy in 1939-1947 and 1951-1955.

Construction, testing

The ship was laid down at the Black Sea Shipyard (Nikolaev, now in Ukraine) on September 1, 1982 under serial number 105. On February 22, 1983, it was relaid (as Leonid Brezhnev), launched on December 4, 1985. June 8, 1989 began mooring trials. On October 21, 1989, the ship was launched into the Black Sea, where it conducted a cycle of aircraft design flight tests. A special The educational center NITKA ("Aviation Ground Test Training Complex", now the Nitka Landing and Landing Systems Range).

The first horizontal landing on a ship in the history of the Soviet Navy was made on November 1, 1989 by test pilot Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Pugachev on a Su-27K aircraft. On December 25, 1990, an acceptance act was signed, and on January 20, 1991, the ship became part of the Northern Fleet of the USSR Navy. However, he remained on the Black Sea, continuing the tests. The transition to Severomorsk was completed only at the end of 1991.

Service History

The operation of the ship was hampered by the lack of funding and the necessary coastal infrastructure. In particular, many problems arose with the main power plant, the boilers of which constantly failed.

As of April 2018, the aircraft carrier made seven long-range cruises, six of them in the Mediterranean Sea (1995-1996, 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2011-2012, 2013-2014, from October 15, 2016 to February 8, 2017 ) and one to the North Atlantic (2004). In 2000, "Admiral Kuznetsov" was involved in rescue operations to assist the sunken submarine K-141 "Kursk".

Being on the seventh long-range cruise, in November 2016 - January 2017, the cruiser took part in hostilities for the first time - the ship's carrier-based fighters attacked the infrastructure of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations (banned in the Russian Federation) on territory of Syria. In total, during the campaign, carrier-based aviation pilots carried out 420 sorties, including 117 night sorties, hit 1,252 terrorist targets.

The ship underwent repairs in 2001-2004, 2008, 2015.

Tactical and technical characteristics

• Waterline length - 270 m;
• maximum length (deck) - 306 m;
• waterline width - 33.4 m;
• maximum width - 72 m;
• height - 64.5 m;
• standard displacement - 46 thousand 540 tons;
• total displacement - 59 thousand 100 tons;
• full speed - 29 knots;
• cruising range at a speed of 29 knots - 3 thousand 850 miles, at a speed of 14 knots - 8 thousand 417 miles;
• autonomy of navigation - up to 45 days;
• crew - 1 thousand 960 people, including 518 officers and 210 midshipmen.

The main power plant is a boiler turbine, it includes four steam turbines with a capacity of 50 thousand horsepower each. The ship is equipped with nine turbogenerators and six diesel generators with a capacity of 1,500 kW each.

Armament

• 12 launchers of the P-700 "Granit" anti-ship missile system (range of supersonic missiles - about 550-600 km);
• 24 launchers anti-aircraft missile system"Dagger" (ammunition - 192 missiles);
• eight modules of the Kortik anti-aircraft missile and artillery system (ammunition - 256 missiles, 48 ​​thousand shells);
• six six-barreled AK-630 artillery mounts of 30 mm caliber (48,000 rounds).
• anti-torpedo defense missile system "Udav-1".

Air group

TAKR can carry 26 aircraft and 24 helicopters on the flight deck and in the hangar below deck. The cruiser's air group initially consisted of Su-33 (Su-27K) carrier-based fighters, Su-25UTG carrier-based attack aircraft, Ka-252RLD (Ka-31), Ka-27 / 27PS and Ka-29 helicopters, from the late 1990s included fighters Su-33 of the 279th naval fighter aviation regiment (based airfield - Severomorsk-3, Murmansk region), Ka-27 and Ka-29 helicopters of the 830th separate naval anti-submarine regiment (base - Severomorsk-1).

In the summer of 2016, the ship began testing an updated air group, which includes new carrier-based MiG-29K/KUB fighters. In 2016-2017, the Admiral Kuznetsov, during its trip to the coast of Syria, tested the Ka-52K Katran ship-based attack helicopter.

ship commanders

• 1987-1992 - captain of the 1st rank Viktor Yarygin;
• 1992-1995 - Rear Admiral Ivan Sanko;
• 1995-2000 - Rear Admiral Alexander Chelpanov;
• 2000-2003 - captain of the 1st rank Alexander Turilin;
• 2003-2008 - captain of the 1st rank Alexander Shevchenko;
• 2008-2011 - captain of the 1st rank Vyacheslav Rodionov;
• 2011 to present - Captain 1st Rank Sergey Artamonov.

"Varangian"

According to a slightly modified project 11436 in 1985-1992, the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser "Varyag" was built in Nikolaev. In 1993 it was owned by Ukraine, in 1998 it was sold to China. In 2012, it was adopted by the Navy of the People's Liberation Army of China. Received the name "Liaoning". Currently, it is the only active Chinese aircraft carrier (the second one is being prepared for testing).

Heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser project 1143.5

Former names - in order of assignment:

- "Leonid Brezhnev" (launching),

- "Tbilisi" (tests)

The only one in the Navy Russian Federation in its class (as of 2015). Designed to destroy large surface targets, defend naval formations from attacks by a potential enemy.

Named after Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov, Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union.

Built in Nikolaev, at the Black Sea shipyard.

Part of the Northern Fleet. During cruises, the Su-25UTG and Su-33 aircraft of the 279th Shipborne Fighter Aviation Regiment (home base - Severomorsk-3) and the Ka-27 and Ka-29 helicopters of the 830th Separate Shipborne Anti-Submarine Helicopter Regiment (base airfield - Severomorsk-1).

Building

The fifth heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser of the USSR - "Riga" was laid down on the slipway of the Black Sea shipyard September 1, 1982. It differed from its predecessors by providing for the first time the ability to take off and land on it traditional aircraft, modified versions of the land-based Su-27, MiG-29 and Su-25. To do this, he had a significantly enlarged flight deck and a springboard for taking off aircraft. Construction for the first time in the USSR was carried out by a progressive method of forming a hull from large blocks weighing up to 1400 tons.

Even before the assembly was completed, after the death of Leonid Brezhnev, on November 22, 1982, the cruiser was renamed in his honor as Leonid Brezhnev. The launching took place on December 4, 1985, after which its completion afloat continued.

Loading and installation of weapons on an aircraft carrier (except for the zonal block of launchers of the SCRC "Granit"), electrical equipment, aviation technical means, ventilation and air conditioning systems, as well as the equipment of the premises took place afloat, during the completion of the ship near the Northern embankment of the Big Bucket.

On August 11, 1987, it was renamed Tbilisi. On June 8, 1989, its mooring trials started, and on September 8, 1989, the crew check-in. On October 21, 1989, the unfinished and understaffed ship was put to sea, where it conducted a cycle of flight design tests of aircraft intended to be based on board. During these tests, the first takeoffs and landings of aircraft on it were carried out. On November 1, 1989, the first landings of the MiG-29K, Su-27K and Su-25UTG were carried out. The first takeoff from it was made by the MiG-29K on the same day and the Su-25UTG and Su-27K the next day, November 2, 1989. After the completion of the test cycle on November 23, 1989, he returned to the factory for completion. In 1990, he went to sea many times to carry out factory and state tests.

On October 4, 1990, it was renamed once again (4th) and became known as "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov."

Specifications

Dimensions

Length - 305.0 m
-Waterline length - 270 meters
- Width is the greatest - 72 meters
-Waterline width - 35.0 m
- Draft - 10.0 m
-Standard displacement - 43 thousand tons
-Total displacement - 55 thousand tons
-Maximum displacement - 58.6 thousand tons

Power plant

Steam turbines - 4 x 50 thousand horsepower
-Number of boilers - 8
-Number of screws - 4
- Power of turbogenerators - 9 x 1500 kilowatts
-Maximum speed - 29 knots
-Cruising range at maximum speed - 3850 miles at a speed of 29 knots
-Economic speed - 18 knots
-Maximum cruising range - 8000 miles at a speed of 18 knots
-Autonomy - 45 days

Armament

For 2014, the air wing includes 20 aircraft and 17 helicopters.

The beginning of design work on the creation of a cruiser of project 1143.5 - 1978. The work is being carried out by the Leningrad Design Bureau. The first option is an improved preliminary design of the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser 1143. The design is carried out in accordance with the research work called "Order", which is a military-economic justification for the aircraft-carrying cruiser with a nuclear installation of project 1160.

The design was based on the following projects:
- advance project 1160 - an aircraft carrier with a displacement of 80,000 tons;

Project 1153 - a large cruiser with aviation armament(50 LA), with a displacement of 70,00 tons. There are no laid down and built ships;
- project aircraft carrier recommended by the Ministry of Shipbuilding Industry, displacement of 80,000 tons, aircraft and helicopters up to 70 units;
- project 1143M - an aircraft carrier armed with Yak-41 supersonic aircraft. This is the third aircraft carrier of project 1143 - 1143.3. It was laid down in 1975, adopted in 1982, decommissioned in 1993;
- project 1143A - project 1143M aircraft carrier with increased displacement. Fourth aircraft-carrying cruiser built. Laid down in 1978, adopted in 1982. Since 2004, the ship has been modernized for the Indian Navy. Admitted to the Indian Navy in 2012.
- heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser of project 1143.5 is the next fifth modification of project 1143 and the fifth aircraft-carrying cruiser built.

In October 1978, by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the Ministry of Defense was instructed to develop a tactical and technical assignment for the ship project 1143.5, the Ministry of the shipbuilding industry to issue a draft design and technical project by 1980. The estimated start of the serial construction of ships of project 1143.5 is 1981, the end is 1990. Laying and construction of ships - slipway "O" of the Nikolaev shipbuilding plant.

Preliminary design prepared for 1979, in the same year it was approved by the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy S. Gorshkov. A few months later, in 1980, the head of the military department, D. Ustinov, signed a directive from the General Staff, which spoke of the need to change project 1143.5. Now the deadline for the completion of the technical project was postponed to 1982, construction to 1986-91. In April 1980, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy S. Gorshkov approves the tactical and technical assignment with the changes made to the project. In the summer of 1980, all parties involved - the Ministry of the Shipbuilding Industry, the Ministry of the Aviation Industry, the Air Force and Navy recognize the development of the ship project 1143.5 as fully completed.

However, changes to the project continue. The use of aviation weapons on the ship of project 1143.5 was worked out in accordance with the decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. At the end of 1980, the Central Research Institute of Military Shipbuilding corrected the tactical and technical specifications for the ship project 1143.5. At the same time, a decision was made to build a second ship of project 1143.4 (1143A) instead of the ship of project 1143.5. However, in the future, the project is being finalized again - technical project 1143.42. In the early spring of 1981, a contract for the production of order 105 was received from the Main Directorate of the Navy at the Nikolaev shipbuilding plant. In the fall of 1981, changes were made to the ship's design - the displacement was increased by 10 thousand tons. The following changes are made to the project:
- installation on board the ship anti-ship missiles "Granit";
- increase in aircraft armament up to 50 units;
- springboard takeoff of aircraft without the use of a catapult;

The final technical design of 1143.5 was ready by March 1982. Adopted by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 392-10 dated May 7, 1982.

On September 1, 1982, the ship of project 1143.5 was laid down on the modernized slipway "O" of the Nikolaev shipbuilding plant and was given the name "Riga" with serial number 105. Two months later, the ship was renamed "Leonid Brezhnev". In December 1982, the installation of the 1st block of the hull structure began. By the way, it was the first ship consisting of 24 hull blocks. The blocks are hull wide, 32 meters long, 13 meters high, weighing up to 1.7 thousand tons. The superstructures of the ship were also installed in the form of a block.

All propulsion and power systems were ordered for 1983-84. Their installation and installation was carried out on an already partially assembled hull, which led to the opening of the decks and some bulkheads and greatly slowed down the entire construction process. The first photographs of the new ship, taken from the satellite, appeared in the French press in 1984, the readiness of the TAKR for this year was 20 percent.

The ship was launched from the slipway at the end of 1985, the weight of the ship did not exceed 32 thousand tons, the readiness of the ship was estimated at 35.8 percent. In 1986, P. Sokolov was appointed chief designer of project 1143.5. In mid-1987, the ship was renamed again - now it has become known as TAKR "Tbilisi", the readiness of the ship is estimated at 57 percent. There is a delay in the construction of the ship (by approximately 15 percent) due to a disruption in the supply of various equipment. At the end of 1988, the readiness of the TAKR is estimated at 70 percent. The estimated cost of the ship for 1989 was about 720 million rubles, of which almost 200 million were delayed in the supply of equipment and systems. In the same year, a new chief designer L. Belov was appointed, the readiness of the ship was estimated at 80 percent. About 50 percent of electronic equipment and systems are installed on the ship, most of the equipment arrived on the ship in 1989.

The first exit of the ship to the sea was made on 10/20/1989. It was officially allowed by all project participants. Of the ready-made solutions on the ship, the air group was ready for use. The exit of the ship was completed on November 25, 1989. The tests of the air group begin on November 1, 1989 - the Su-27K was the first to land on the deck. Immediately after landing, he took off from the deck of the TAKR MiG-29K.

The completion of the ship with weapons and electronic equipment was completed by 1990, the complete readiness of the ship is estimated at 87 percent. Running factory tests were carried out in the spring and summer of 1990. In October 1990, the ship changed its name for the last time, which it still bears - TAKR "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov". During the 1st stage of the ongoing tests, the ship successfully covered more than 16 thousand miles, more than 450 times aircraft took off from the deck of the ship. State tests of the first TAKR project 1143.5 were completed on 12/25/1990, after which it was accepted into the Navy. Further tests of the ship took place until 1992 on the Black Sea, after which it goes into the Northern Fleet.

Design development of the ship:
- improvement of the project 1143 - five options were proposed, the main units being worked out: a catapult, an emergency barrier, aerofinishers, KTU. Displacement up to 65,000 tons. Main armament: 12 launch anti-ship missiles "Granit";

Project 1143.2 is the next version of the ship's improvement. The main units being worked on: two catapults, an enlarged hangar, a flight deck. Displacement up to 60,000 tons. Main armament: an air group of 42 aircraft (some of which may be helicopters);
- draft version of project 1143.5 - the proposed version was worked out as far as possible by docking. Displacement up to 65,000 tons. Armament - an air group of 52 vehicles (30 aircraft and 22 helicopters) and 12 launchers of the Granit missile defense system;
- project 1143.5 (Ustinova-Amelko) - changes in the design of the ship to the requirements of the Ministry of Defense. Units under study: springboard, KTU or NPP of projects 1143.4/1144. Displacement up to 55,000 tons. Main armament: 12 launch anti-ship missiles "Granit" and an air group of 46 aircraft of the Yak-41 type;
- project 1143.5 (TsNIIVK) - a revised project of the Central Research Institute of Military Shipbuilding. Displacement up to 55,000 tons. Units under development: reserve catapult added, hull structure reduced, aviation fuel supply reduced. Main armament: an air group consisting of 46 aircraft (short and vertical takeoff aircraft of the Yak-41 type).
- project 1143.42 - a revised project in favor of the second ship of project 1143.4. Displacement up to 55,000 tons. Worked out nodes: increase in the deck, catapult. Main armament: air group consisting of 40 aircraft (DRLO aircraft are present), anti-ship missiles "Basalt";
- project 1143.42 (adjustment of the Ministry of Defense) - a revised project by decision of the military department. Displacement - up to 65,000 tons. Worked nodes: springboard. Main armament: 12 launch anti-ship missiles "Granit", an air group consisting of 50 aircraft.

The device and design of TAKR project 1143.5
Structurally, the ship consists of 24 blocks, weighing about 1.7 thousand tons. Welded hull with 7 decks and 2 platforms. During the construction of the ship, two Finnish-made Kane cranes were used, each with a lifting capacity of 900 tons. The hull of the ship is covered with a special radio-absorbing coating. If we conditionally divide the ship into floors, then their number will be 27 floors. In total, 3857 rooms for various purposes were made inside the ship, of which we note: cabins of 4 classes - 387 rooms, cubicles - 134 rooms, dining rooms - 6 rooms, shower rooms - 50 rooms. During the construction of the ship, more than 4 thousand kilometers of cable routes, 12 thousand kilometers of pipes for various purposes were used. The ship received a through deck with an area of ​​more than 14,000 m2 with a springboard at an angle of 14.3 degrees in the bow of the ship. Profiled fairings are installed on the springboard and the edges of the deck corners. Aircraft are delivered to the takeoff deck by 40-ton lifts (right side) to the bow and stern of the ship. Deck width - 67 meters. A section of the landing strip 205 meters long and 26 meters wide is located at an angle of 7 degrees. The deck surface is covered with a special Omega anti-slip and heat-resistant coating, and the vertical take-off / landing areas are covered with AK-9FM heat-resistant plates. On the left and right sides of the launchers there are two runways (the takeoff run is 90 meters), which converge at the upper end of the springboard. The third runway is 180 meters long (the left side is closer to the stern). Cooled deflectors are used on the deck to provide protection for the support personnel and aircraft from aircraft taking off. For landing the aircraft on the deck, arresters "Svetlana-2" and an emergency barrier "Nadezhda" are used. The landing of the aircraft is carried out with the help of a radio system of short-range navigation and an optical landing system "Luna-3". The closed hangar, 153 meters long, 26 meters wide and 7.2 meters high, accommodated 70 percent of the regular air group. It also stores tractors, fire engines, a special set of tools for servicing the LAC. In the hangar, a chain semi-automatic system for transporting standard aircraft is made; aircraft are transported on deck using tractors. The hangar is divided into 4 compartments by folding fireproof curtains with electromechanical control to ensure fire safety. Structural protection of the surface part of the shielded type ship, internal protective barriers - composite structures of the steel / fiberglass / steel type. Chosen as the main material high strength steel(yield strength 60 kgf/mm2). Aviation fuel, fuel and ammunition tanks are protected by local box armor. For the first time in the construction of domestic ships, underwater structural protection is used. The depth of the PKZ is about 5 meters. Of the 3 longitudinal partitions, the second was armored multilayer type. Unsinkability was ensured when 5 adjacent compartments were flooded, no more than 60 meters long.

Power- boiler-turbine type, consisting of 8 new steam boilers, 4 main turbo-gear units TV-12-4, providing a total power of 200,000 hp. Propulsors - 4 fixed-pitch propellers.

Energy- 9 turbogenerators with a total capacity of 13500 kW, 6 diesel generators with a total capacity of 9000 kW.

Armament and equipment of TAKR project 1143.5
12 underdeck launchers of the Granit shock anti-ship missiles are located at the very base of the springboard. The launchers are covered with armored covers flush with the deck. Jamming systems 4 launchers PK-10 and 8 launchers PK-2M with an ammunition load of 400 rounds (SU "Tertsia").

The anti-aircraft armament of the ship is 4 modules of the Kinzhal anti-aircraft missile system with an ammunition load of 192 missiles, 8 Kortik air defense missile systems with an ammunition supply of 256 missiles, 48,000 shells. The modules are installed side by side, providing a circular shelling of air targets.

The artillery armament of the ship is three AK-630M batteries with 48,000 rounds of ammunition.

The anti-torpedo armament of the ship is two RBU-12000 10-barrel mounts, installed on the stern on the side. Ammunition 60 RGB.

Air group - according to the project 50 LA. As of 2010, it included 18 Su-33s, 4 Su-25Ts, 15 Ka-27s and 2 Ka-31s.

Radio-technical armament and equipment of the ship - 58 systems and complexes, the main ones are:
- BIUS "Lumberjack";
- SOI "Troinik";
- complex long-range target designation "Coral-BN";
- multifunctional radar "Mars-Passat" with a phased antenna array;
- three-coordinate radar "Fregat-MA";
- two-coordinate radar "Podkat" for detecting low-flying air targets;
- navigation complex "Beysur";
- communication equipment "Buran-2";
- active interference stations MP-207, MP-407, TK-D46RP;
- Flight control radar "Resistor";
- electronic warfare complex "Cantata-1143.5";
- complex hydroacoustics "Polynom-T";
- sonar stations "Zvezda-M1", "Amulet", "Altyn";
- navigational radar stations"Naiada-M", "Vaigach-U";
- station of underwater communication "Shtil";
- space communication system "Kristall-BK";
- the combat control system of the aircraft "Tur-434";
- television landing system "Otvedok-Emancipation";
- guidance station "Gazon";
- automatic control system "Control";

The antenna devices of most systems and complexes are located on the superstructure of the ship. Radio transceivers - more than 50 units. These are 80 paths for receiving and transmitting information and data, most of which can work simultaneously.

Auxiliary equipment has more than 170 items and consists of 450 individual items.

Rescue equipment of the ship command boat project 1404, two boats of project 1402-B, two 6-oared yawls (project YAL-P6), 240 PSN-10M (rescue rafts in containers).

The main characteristics of the TAKR "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov":
- length - 304.5 meters;
- width KVL / deck - 38/72 meters;
- draft - 10.5 meters;
- the height of the springboard above the water - 28 meters;
- displacement standard / full / max - up to 46000/59000/67000 tons;
- economy / max speed - 18/32 knots;
- range economy / max stroke - 8000/3800 miles;
- autonomy - 1.5 months;
- personnel of the ship crew / flight crew - 1533/626 people.

This year, TAKR "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov":
- January 08 - as part of the shipborne aircraft carrier group of the Russian Navy, he entered from the Syrian port of Tartus on an official friendly visit;

February 16 - as part of the shipborne aircraft carrier group of the Russian Navy, he completed a cruise in the Mediterranean Sea and returns to the home base of Severomorsk;
- 2012-17 - the modernization of the ship should begin, the work will be carried out by the Sevmash production association.

Information sources:
http://militaryrussia.ru/blog/topic-5.html
http://flot2017.com/item/opinions/55248
http://www.atrinaflot.narod.ru/2_mainclassships/01_takr_11435/0_11435_1.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=163tmz19FQI

As we said earlier, the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov (hereinafter referred to as Kuznetsov) turned out to be too large for one article of the cycle. And therefore, before undertaking its description, in three separate articles we examined the history of creation and them - the Yak-141, MiG-29K and Su-33.

Further, it would be necessary to talk about the design features and capabilities of our only ship capable of providing flights for horizontal takeoff and landing aircraft, but ... Knowing what controversy this could cause in the comments, the author of this article preferred to first talk about the Kuznetsov aircraft carrier service, without anything its current state, nor the features of combat use in Syria will not be clear.

Recall (briefly) the main performance characteristics the only aircraft carrier in Russia.

The standard displacement (according to various sources) is 45,900 - 46,540 tons, the total displacement is 58,500 - 59,100 tons. The "largest" displacement of the TAKR is also mentioned - 61,390 tons. The power of the machines (boiler-turbine four-shaft installation) is 200,000 hp. , speed - 29 knots. The cruising range at a speed of 18 knots was to be 8,000 miles. Autonomy in reserves, provisions and drinking water- 45 days.

Armament - airplanes and helicopters (the total number can reach 50 aircraft), as well as 12 Granit anti-ship missiles, 192 Kinzhal missiles, 8 Kortik air defense systems and 8 AK-630M 30-mm installations, Udav anti-torpedo defense missile system » (based on RBU). It was believed that this complex is capable of destroying a homing torpedo with a probability of 76%. Crew size (actual) up to 2,100 people. aircraft carrier personnel and 500 people. air group.

TAKR, at that time bearing the name "Riga", was laid down on the slipway "0" of the Nikolaev ChSZ in a solemn ceremony on September 1, 1982 at 15.00. Present at the ceremony, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy S.G. Gorshkov personally attached a silver mortgage board to the bottom section of the hull.

The start of construction was preceded by extensive preparations, including a major modernization of the slipway, as well as the installation of two 900-ton KONE gantry cranes purchased in Finland. These huge structures (height - 110 m, size of the portal - 150 m) made it possible to move cargo weighing up to 1,500 tons. As a result, the Nikolaevsky ChSZ received a slipway complex that allows you to build and launch ships with a launch weight of up to 40,000 tons.

It is interesting that one of the advantages of the deal with the French for the acquisition of Mistral-type helicopter carriers is the transfer by the French side of the technology of large-tonnage block assembly, which we allegedly did not own. In fact, the hull of the future "Kuznetsov" was assembled from 21 blocks 32 m long, 13 m high and wide, corresponding to the ship's hull. Each of these blocks weighed up to 1,400 tons, the superstructure was the 22nd block.

Installation of the superstructure on the second ship of the series - at that time "Riga", and later - "Varyag"

The construction of the first block began a little later than the official laying, in December 1982, and it was installed on the slipway on February 22, 1983. It is interesting that during the construction of the ship, the computers of the designer, the Nevsky Design Bureau, were linked with the ChSY computer center into a single electronic computing system which greatly simplifies access to necessary documentation. New design methods have greatly accelerated the pace construction works. New ones were introduced everywhere (including electronic ones), for example, they managed to abandon the traditional markings on the plaza. Cable work, for the first time in the history of domestic shipbuilding, was carried out immediately on the slipway.

Renamed Leonid Brezhnev, the TAKR was launched on December 4, 1985, having a mass of 32,000 tons (of which the ship itself weighed 28,000 tons, the rest was ballast and other cargo), mooring trials began on June 8, 1989. Of course, this year the ship was not yet ready to go to sea, but the need to obtain practical experience takeoff and landing on the deck led to the fact that on October 21 TAKR (now - "Tbilisi") for the first time moved away from the factory berth and headed for Sevastopol. There, at the training ground near Cape Margopulo, the first tests were carried out, as well as overflights of the ship by Su-27K and MiG-29K fighters.

On November 1, 1989, the first landing of a horizontal takeoff and landing aircraft on the deck of a ship took place in the history of the Russian Navy: at 13.46 V.G. Pugachev landed on a Su-27K with tail number 39. At the same time, the readiness of the ship, even by the beginning of 1990, was 86%. State tests began on August 1, 1990 and were carried out very intensively - in 2 months and 4 days (the ship returned to the plant to eliminate comments on October 4, 1990) TAKR passed 16,200 miles, 454 sorties of aircraft and helicopters were made from its deck . For the first time, night start and landing of aircraft were tested.

The acceptance certificate was signed on December 25, 1990, and on January 20, 1991 TAKR (now - "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov") was enrolled in the Northern Fleet. Nine days later (January 29), the naval flag was raised over the ship for the first time.

It was assumed that Kuznetsov would spend 1991 on the Black Sea, he was even included in the 30th division of surface ships of the Black Sea Fleet, and then, in 1992, TAKR will enter the first military service to the Mediterranean Sea, after which it will go to the Northern Fleet. However, in November 1991, it became clear that the collapse of the USSR was irreversible, and the situation became ... shall we say, unstable. As you know, in a certain period of time, Ukraine claimed nothing less than the entire Black Sea Fleet of the USSR. The Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Chernavin, decided to transfer Kuznetsov to the north, and on December 1, 1991, the ship went to sea.

The first campaign of the TAKR passed without any special incidents, although, of course, there were some nuances. Already in the Aegean Sea, the vibration of the third machine was discovered, as it turned out later - a fishing net was wound around the propeller. It didn’t particularly “stick”; therefore, they went with it to Gibraltar, and only there, during a two-day stay (associated, first of all, with the reception of fuel), it was cut off by the efforts of the divers on board the ship.

During this campaign, "Kuznetsov" first met with the forces of the US Navy - an aircraft carrier strike group led by the aircraft carrier "George Washington". The Americans immediately raised their aircraft and began flying around and photographing the newest TAKR, and also tried to explore its physical fields. In response, ours transmitted the signal “I am conducting exercises”, increased the speed to 24 knots and lifted both rescue helicopters into the air (aircraft, unfortunately, were not on board the Kuznetsov during this transition). The patrol ship "Zadorny" fished out a sonar buoy from the water. There was nothing else worthy of mention in that campaign, and on December 21, 1991, the TAKR arrived at its destination. Here, "Kuznetsov" was included in the 43rd division of missile cruisers based in the village of Vidyaevo.

In order to understand what happened to our TAKR next, it is necessary to stop and figure out the situation in which our only heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser found itself.

First- this is the largest and most complex ship of all built in the USSR. It implemented fundamentally new technologies necessary for basing horizontal takeoff and landing aircraft. No doubt this was a huge step forward, but usually in cases like this, ships with so much new technology suffer from a lot of "childhood diseases" that need to be identified and "treated".

Second- we can say that we inherited the Kuznetsov from the USSR, but this cannot be said about its air group. The Su-33 hasn't even finished testing yet. Yes, it was developed in the USSR, but the refinement of such a complex object as a carrier-based combat aircraft is extremely difficult, and mass production should also be organized.

Third- the question of the training of carrier-based pilots. Without a doubt, there were many professional pilots in the USSR, there were also those who piloted VTOL aircraft, but no one knew the specifics of takeoff from a springboard and landing with a stopper, except for literally a few test pilots.

In other words, the state tests were passed, the acceptance certificate was signed, the flag was raised, and on December 21, 1991 Kuznetsov arrived at the place of permanent deployment. But at the same time, we still didn’t have a combat-ready aircraft-carrying cruiser with a complete and trained air group as part of the fleet, and in order to get it, the Russian Federation needed to make a lot of efforts. The problem was that the country was entering an era of political chaos and financial crises, infamously known as the "wild nineties", which, of course, did not at all contribute to the combat capability of such a complex weapon system, which was the Kuznetsov TAKR.

Organizationally, the Kuznetsov wing was formalized in February 1992., having formed the 57th Smolensk Red Banner mixed naval aviation division (57th squadron), which included:

1. 279th shipborne fighter aviation regiment (279 kiap). It was supposed to include two squadrons of Su-33s and, probably, a squadron of Su-25UTG training aircraft;

2. 830th Shipborne Anti-Submarine Helicopter Regiment (830 KPVP), equipped with Ka-27, Ka-27PS and Ka-29 helicopters.

In turn, 279 kiaps were formed on the basis of two compounds. On the one hand, the 279th kiap became the heir to the 279th okshap (separate naval assault aviation regiment), which dates back to December 1, 1973, when the formation of the first regiment of Yak-36M (Yak-38) carrier-based aircraft for the TAKR began " Kiev". This regiment was a pioneer in every respect: it was the first to master completely new technology, what were VTOL aircraft, its pilots became the first carrier-based pilots, they were the first to gain experience in sea and ocean campaigns ... All this was on them, so who, if not them, was to master the latest Su-33s?

However, in addition to them, the 279th kiap also included many officers from another unit, the 100th research and instructor fighter aviation regiment (100th iiap), with which ... an interesting story turned out.

This regiment was created on December 24, 1985 (based at the Saki airfield, Crimea) with the aim of studying the capabilities of carrier-based aircraft, testing the tactics of its use, as well as training carrier-based aviation pilots. That is, the regiment was equipped with extra-class pilots, who just had to figure out what the Su-33, MiG-29K were and how all this could be most effectively used in combat - and then teach others about it. But the USSR collapsed, and the 100th IIAP ended up on the territory of now sovereign Ukraine ...

Surely, many readers of the site watched the film "72 meters" at one time. It contains an episode in which the crew of the Black Sea submarine must choose - the Ukrainian oath and service in the sunny Crimea or the hills of the Arctic, where the boat will have to go. With a few exceptions, the crew chooses fidelity to duty, and, to the sounds of the “Farewell of the Slav”, leaves the pier, where the “ceremonial event” was planned.

This episode immediately became, as it is fashionable to say now, an Internet meme and, by the way, the reason why the rental of "72 meters" in Ukraine was banned. But ... this episode is not fictional at all. Many people faced a similar dilemma, including, of course, the personnel of the research and instructor aviation regiment. So - about a hundred officers of the 100th IIAP, including - 16 pilots, led by Lieutenant Colonel Timur Avtandilovich Apakidze (by the way, the commander of the 100th IIAP), following not the letter, but the spirit of the oath given by them, they preferred to leave the hospitable Crimea, having moved with families in the polar Severomorsk.

Nails would be made of these people ...

Timur Avtandilovich Apakidze in the cockpit of the Su-33

Without a doubt, these officers were carriers of a unique, at that time, experience in operating carrier-based aircraft, without which development would have been extremely difficult. However, even with them, work on the adoption of the Su-33 and the preparation of an air wing for the Kuznetsov could not be resumed where they had been completed in the Crimea. The fact is that the 3rd Directorate of the State Research Institute of the Air Force remained in Ukraine, which was engaged in testing the aviation of the Navy. As a result, all materials and documents on the stages of flight design and state tests of the Su-33, performed in the Crimea, turned out to be inaccessible - "fraternal" Ukraine categorically refused to transfer them to the Russian Federation. "Clamped" was also one of the Su-27K (T10K-7), which remained at the airfield "Kirovskoye" in the Crimea.

But that was not all. NITKA remained in the Crimea - a unique training complex for the training of carrier-based pilots, capable of even imitating pitching when landing on the deck of an aircraft-carrying cruiser. Subsequently, it was still possible to agree with Ukraine on the operation of this complex, and, starting from July 1994, the training of personnel of the aviation of the Russian Navy resumed on it, but for two whole years after the Kuznetsov appeared in the north (1992-1993), it turned out to be not available to us. And even later…, for example, in 1994 Ukraine allowed our pilots to fly NITKA for a whole month. But it was not only in the complex, of course. During Soviet times, the most complex infrastructure for the development of carrier-based aviation was created in Crimea, and NITKA, in essence, was part of it. And in Severomorsk, apart from military airfields, by and large, there was nothing.

In other words, after the collapse of the USSR, we lost the infrastructure for research and training of carrier-based pilots, as well as a lot of materials on previously performed tests. The country, of course, did not have the means to restore all this to any extent. The only "training ground" where state tests of the Su-33 could be resumed was, in fact, the TAKR itself. But even here, not everything was in order.

It is well known that the lack of equipped bases was a huge problem for our aircraft carriers (and not only them). And I must say that some conclusions from the operation of the TAKR of previous projects in the USSR were nevertheless made. So, "Kuznetsov" in the village of Vidyaevo was waiting for a pontoon-spacer specially made at ChSY - a very complex engineering structure, created specifically to ensure the basing of the latest TAKR in the north. To do this, special mooring devices were mounted on the pontoon, communications for supplying power to the ship, and even living quarters for service personnel. But, of course, the Black Sea shipbuilders could not supply their creation with a powerful boiler house, coupled with a power plant - it was assumed that the pontoon would only serve as a link between the ship and the corresponding land infrastructure. But they didn’t have time to build it, as a result of which there was absolutely not enough steam and electricity for Kuznetsov. As a result, as on other TAKRs before him, the Kuznetsov crew is forced to constantly keep one of its engine and boiler rooms in working order. Which, of course, had the most negative impact on the resource of mechanisms.

Now it will be extremely difficult to say what is the reason for the first breakdowns of the Kuznetsov power plant - someone believes that the issue is in the initial "capriciousness" of the boiler-turbine installation, on the other hand, one should listen to those who claim that despite the well-known complexity operation, the fleet could well cope with this if it were not for the chronic underfunding and low qualifications of conscripts, who simply did not have time to train how to work with such mechanisms, as well as the difficulties that arose in obtaining spare parts and components for boilers. In any case, certain difficulties arose from the very first days of operation - warranty specialists worked on the ship, including due to the vibration of the third machine that captured the network in the Mediterranean Sea. During the next exit to the sea, one of the main turbines of the ship broke down, which required a very thorough and expensive repair.

All of the above, without a doubt, largely predetermined the use of the Kuznetsov aircraft carrier in subsequent years. For three years, in the period 1992-1994, the ship spent 3-4 months at sea, the crew was trained, flight design and state tests of the Su-33 were carried out. It seems to be lines filled with banality, but what was behind it? In fact, it was necessary to revise the entire training program for deck pilots, excluding training at the NITKA simulator from it, it was necessary to somehow teach people to “transfer” from an unusual airfield directly to the deck. And this is in conditions when the equipment responsible for takeoff and landing operations was junk on the ship. As V.P. Zablotsky writes in his monograph on the TAKR "Kuznetsov":

« The most serious drawback was the mismatch of the light zones of the Luna-3 OSB and the telecommuting and landing control system Otvodok-Emancipation with the on-board equipment of the radio engineering system (K-42 Resistor)».

In the spring of 1993, the first four serial Su-33s were placed at the disposal of the 279 kiap, and 1994 became in some way a milestone for our carrier-based aviation. Firstly, the state tests of the aircraft were completed, and the final chord was the successful interception by a pair of Su-33s and the destruction of the La-17 target aircraft against the backdrop of the sea. Secondly, at the same time, the fleet received 24 Su-33s, which made it possible to equip our only carrier-based aviation regiment. Nevertheless, the difficulties described above with the training of personnel led to the fact that by 1994 we had only the leader group, which consisted of 10 pilots who were allowed to fly from the ship, and ... difficulties still remained.

The impossibility of using the NITKA simulator, for example, led to the fact that the pilots could not practice night takeoff and landing, although such flights were previously carried out from the TAKR board in the Crimea. As a result, I had to be content with flights only during the daytime and at dusk. A number of malfunctions in control systems prevented our aviation from working out the group use of fighters and their joint actions with an anti-submarine group.

The 1994 test exercise demonstrated the potential capabilities of our carrier-based aviation. The flights were carried out by six Su-33s, divided into three deuces. The first of them was piloted by test pilots of the Sukhoi Design Bureau V.G. Pugachev and S.N. Melnikov, who were supposed to portray enemy aircraft attacking TAKR-u from a distance of about 800 km. The second pair of aircraft (T.A. Apakidze and V.V. Dubovoi) and the third (I.S. Kozhin and K.B. Kochkarev) were supposed to provide air defense for the formation, which included TAKR outside the ship's air defense systems.

The most interesting thing about these exercises was that NATO aviation took an active part in them. When entering the designated patrol area, the pair of T.A. Apakidze - V.V. Oak using the onboard equipment of the Su-33 found an unidentified target 280 km from the cruiser and were immediately reoriented to intercept it. The target turned out to be the Norwegian patrol "Orion", after its interception, the Su-33 returned to the assigned task - the aircraft piloted by V.G. Pugachev and S.N. Melnikov, were discovered and "destroyed" by air-to-air missiles.

The same thing happened with the second pair of Su-33s piloted by I.S. Kozhin and K.B. Kochkarev - during the exit to the patrol area, aircraft were found that started from Norwegian airfields. By decision of the ship's command and control center, the pilots first intercepted the descendants of the ancient Vikings, and then continued to complete the training task, which was also completed.

Of course, if we compare the 1994 test exercises of the carrier-based aviation of the Northern Fleet with the training process of US aircraft carriers, then the incomparability of scale is immediately striking - well, what are only six aircraft ... However, you need to understand that our naval pilots took their first steps, and in the most difficult conditions. At the same time, these exercises already demonstrated the undoubted usefulness of a carrier-based air group, which consisted of horizontal takeoff and landing aircraft, even if they were of the most limited number.

Theoretically, the large ships of the Northern Fleet had the ability to detect air targets 280 km away, but on the condition that the aircraft flies high enough so that the radio horizon does not interfere with its detection. And even having discovered such an aircraft, not a single ship of the fleet, including heavy nuclear missile cruisers, had weapons that could destroy it at such a range. Also attracted the attention of the duration of the aircraft in the air. Unlike the Yak-38 "mast defense aircraft", the latest Su-33s could be deployed to patrol in remote areas. Both pairs of Su-33s, having received one task, during its implementation were reoriented to another, unscheduled one (interception of NATO aircraft), successfully solved it, and then returned to the original task without landing or refueling.

In the winter of 1994-995. Kuznetsov underwent the first more or less serious repair of the main boilers, including the replacement of tubes, but judging by further events, it was not done very well - in 1995, the ship lost speed while going to sea. The previously announced reasons - operation in the conditions of the Far North, the complexity of the boiler and turbine installation, general underfunding and the ongoing collapse of the armed forces led to the fact that the ship that entered service in 1991 already in 1995 actually needed a major overhaul of the power plant. Of course, this is an abnormal situation for a modern warship, but in the period 1991-1995. the situation in the fleet and in the country as a whole was infinitely far from the concept of "normal". And instead of repairing the TAKR, Kuznetsov went to his first military service in the Mediterranean.

The exit took place on December 23, 1995, while the Kuznetsov became the basis of the aircraft carrier-multipurpose group (AMG), which, in addition to the TAKR, included the Volk multipurpose nuclear submarine (project 971 Shchuka-B), the Fearless destroyer (project 956), TFR "Ardent" (project 11352). They were provided by the SB-406 tug and the Olekma tanker of the Northern Fleet, which followed from the AMG to the Bay of Biscay, and later on, the Shakhter tug, and the Ivan Bubnov tanker. As far as the author understood, the Dniester tanker accompanied the AMG all the time.

Without a doubt, and despite the presence of the latest TAKR in the AMG, such a squadron was only a shadow of the naval power of the USSR, capable of permanent basis keep dozens of warships and submarines in the Mediterranean. Alas, the times of the 5th OPESK are gone, and most likely forever. Nevertheless, our AMG was quite suitable for demonstrating the military presence, and its composition made it possible to work out the actions of the Kuznetsov carrier-based aircraft "in conditions close to combat."

Unfortunately, by 1995, the 57th Scud was not ready for combat work in full force. So, the 279th kiap received 24 Su-33s, so that both of its squadrons were fully equipped with materiel, but only the first one was “ready for the campaign and battle”, the planes of which could be distinguished by the image of an eagle on the keels (the cars of the second squadron had a head tiger in the same place).

As a result, Kuznetsov went to his first combat service with an air group of 13 fighters, that is, a dozen Su-33s of the first squadron, as well as one pilot batch aircraft (T10K-9, which was assigned the number 109), two Su-25UTG training aircraft , as well as 11 Ka-27, Ka-27PS and Ka-29 helicopters from the 830th Kplvp. At the same time, there were 15 combatant fighter pilots on board the Kuznetsov, who were allowed to fly the Su-33 from the deck of the ship, not counting T.A. Apakidze (who commanded the air division) and his deputy Colonel Vlasov (with them, respectively, 17), as well as 11 helicopter crews.

Naturally, ship pilots were distinguished highest qualification, suffice it to say that out of 15 fighter pilots, 14 were sniper pilots or 1st class pilots. The engineering and technical staff was able to match them - almost all had experience in servicing flight equipment in combat services. In addition to the pilots of the 57th squadron, test pilots were also present at the TAKR, whose task was to conduct a series of tests of the Su-33 in the Mediterranean Sea.

The trip lasted 110 days - starting on December 23, 1995, it ended on March 22, 1996. 14,000 miles were traveled through the waters of two oceans and five seas, 30 flight shifts were carried out (that is, days during which aviation flights were carried out), during this time Su-33s made 400 (according to other sources - 524) sorties, helicopters - 700 (according to other sources - 996), including 250 to search and track submarines.

The first combat service "Kuznetsov" had the following consequences. Firstly, it turned out that the ship was fully capable of fulfilling the role of a "floating airfield" for the aircraft based on it. So, for example, in the period from January 19 to January 23, 1996 (that is, not for 5 days in a row), 5 flight shifts were carried out and the Su-33 took off 67 times. It seems to be small, especially against the background of the capabilities of the American Nimitz, designed to perform more than a hundred flights a day. But remember that the Kuznetsov air division had only 13 aircraft at its disposal, and the average number of sorties was 13.4 per day - that is, each aircraft took to the air once for five days in a row.

In fact, during these five days, from 8 to 20 sorties per day were made, that is, part of the aircraft carried out 2 sorties in one day. Or, for example, flights on January 26-27 - on the first day, the Su-33s made 21 sorties, on the second - 12 more, and it’s not a fact that all 13 available aircraft took off. All this is quite comparable with the indicators of American carrier-based aviation, but one must understand that no one set the task of ensuring the maximum number of sorties for the Kuznetsov air group. For the first time, the TAKR with the Su-33 on board entered combat service, and it was necessary to check and work out a lot in practice - accordingly, we can say that the actual number of sorties per day per aircraft was not the maximum, but, so to speak, " comfortable working".

The interaction of heterogeneous forces was worked out - surface and submarine ships with carrier-based aircraft. The TAKR air group successfully intercepted numerous reconnaissance and patrol aircraft of NATO countries, monitored the US AUG, helicopters detected and escorted foreign submarines, "working" together with the Volk nuclear submarine. When Kuznetsov was returning home, in the second half of March, he took part in the large exercises of the Northern Fleet, in which, in addition to him, up to 40 warships and submarines, as well as up to 50 aircraft and helicopters of naval aviation, were involved.

During these exercises, the destroyer "Fearless" was nominated as a long-range radar patrol ship 200 km from the warrant, in which the Kuznetsov TAKR followed. Having received information from him, the Su-33, acting at a distance of 500 km from the TAKR, intercepted and “destroyed” four Tu-22M3s, which were never able to reach the missile launch line on the TAKR returning from combat service. It should also be noted that the “air umbrella” of the TAKR was built in two echelons - the far one was focused on intercepting enemy aircraft, the near one was aimed at destroying anti-ship missiles.

In other words, of course, it can and should be said that the absence of long-range radar weapons significantly reduces the capabilities of the Kuznetsov air group, but in no case should we forget that even in current form Kuznetsov significantly strengthened our fleet, providing it with such capabilities that the fleet had never had before. The experience of the first combat service of Kuznetsov testified that the presence of TAKR-a increases the combat stability of a ship formation operating in the far sea or ocean zone by 1.5-2 times.

Secondly ... alas, the first combat service demonstrated the extreme weakness of the ship's power plant. At the very beginning of the trip, when the TAKR was just leaving the Kola Bay, a seven-point storm began, during which two out of eight boilers failed, and at the time of returning to the base, only two boilers were working on the ship. Accordingly, in April 1996, Kuznetsov was put in for repairs, from which he left only by the summer of 1998. I must say that if it were not for chronic underfunding repair work, the ship would not have to spend two whole years at the mooring wall. Yes, and the quality of repairs, probably, was lame, and in addition, the “wild 90s”, underfunding and a drop in the qualifications of personnel had a strong effect. In the period 1998-1999, Kuznetsov continued to serve in the fleet, but in 1999 one boiler and one (out of four) GTZA completely failed.

Despite this, in 2000, the Kuznetsov was supposed to go on a second combat service, but it was canceled due to the tragic death of the Kursk submarine. As a result, instead of the BS, the ship got up for a three-year average repair. Then, during 2004-2007, the ship again plunged into the everyday life of military service, while in 2004, as part of a ship group, went to the North Atlantic, and from December 5, 2007 to February 3, 2008, made another BS - a trip to the Mediterranean Sea. Then - 7 months of repairs on the Zvyozdochka and service until May 2014, when the ship, which had just returned from a campaign to the coast of Syria, got up for a short three-month repair. Service again, and from January to June 15, 2016 - the restoration of technical readiness before a new long-distance campaign and - participation in hostilities in Syria.

In general, the following can be said - for the period from January 29, 1991, when the naval flag was first raised over the Kuznetsov, and until October 2017, when work began on the overhaul of the aircraft carrier, 26 years and 8 months passed. During this time, the ship was under repair for approximately 6 years and 5 months, that is, only 24% of the total presence in the fleet. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that in normal conditions and with timely funding available, the two-year renovations in 1996-98 and the three-years in 2001-2004 could have been completed much faster, or much more repairs could have been completed in the same period.

In other words, the ingrained opinion that Kuznetsov does not get out of repairs has no basis. The problem lies elsewhere - huge ship, which has been in the fleet for 27 years, has not yet received a single major overhaul ...

The smoky trail of "Admiral Kuznetsov", which became the reason for active discussions in the press and social networks, has a long prehistory. "Lenta.ru" continues to talk about the only one currently operating Russian aircraft carrier, the creation of which was the result of many compromises and palliative solutions.

Attempt #3

On July 21, 1970, the lead ship of project 1143, an anti-submarine cruiser with aircraft armament, named "Kiev", was laid down on the slipway of the largest in the USSR Chernomorsky shipbuilding plant in Nikolaev. It was supposed to be the first Soviet aircraft carrier, that is, a ship designed for basing, takeoffs and landings of aircraft directly from the deck. The characteristics of this project were the fruit of a difficult intra-Soviet compromise, expressed in everything, including classification. In hindsight, the definition of "anti-submarine cruiser with aircraft weapons", then changed to "heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser", will be explained, among other things, by the desire to avoid problems with the passage of the Black Sea straits, but these explanations are false: firstly, the Montreux Convention does not contain a direct ban on passage straits by aircraft carriers of the Black Sea states, and secondly, in the Western classification, which was used, among other things, by Turkey, which controls the straits, including the classification used in the annexes to the Montreux Convention "Kiev" and its heirs have always been clearly designated precisely as aircraft carriers - aircraft carriers.

The reason for the classification tricks was purely internal: it was impossible to directly announce the construction of ships, which were simultaneously branded by the press as "weapons of aggressive war", within the framework of Soviet ideological realities.

To a large extent, the same reasons determined the characteristics of the ship: through the slingshots of numerous opponents of aircraft carriers as a class of ships, a hybrid designed for basing and flying vertical take-off and landing aircraft (VTOL) and helicopters, while with cruising missile weapons and quite "carrier" sizes, passed . 37 thousand tons of standard displacement and 273 meters of length with a boiler-turbine power plant with a capacity of 180 thousand horsepower located Kiev approximately in the middle between the French aircraft carriers of the Foch and Clemenceau type, the standard displacement of which was about 30 thousand tons, and the length was 265 meters, and 45,000-ton American Midways.

Unlike the named ships, "Kyiv" did not have a continuous flight deck along the entire length of the ship - its bow was occupied by cruiser weapons, which limited its carrier capabilities to the operation of VTOL aircraft, in the same way as the much smaller British Invincible-class ships being designed at that time.

The greatest problems of Project 1143 were associated with the air group: the Yak-38 VTOL aircraft, a subsonic aircraft with weak weapons and a relatively short range, looked strange on a ship equipped with anti-ship missiles with a range of up to 500 kilometers. In fact, the Yak-38, officially classified as an attack aircraft, could not perform any of the current tasks: as an attack aircraft in operations against the fleet, it was useless, without missile weapons that could attack ships, and as an air defense aircraft of the formation, it had little chance in confrontation with enemy attack vehicles operating under the cover of supersonic fighters.

The shortcomings of "Kyiv" were obvious, and alternatives continued to be considered.

1160-1153

The main alternative was the project, which received the number 1160. Also not without compromise solutions in the form of anti-ship missile launchers, it was nevertheless a full-fledged aircraft carrier project. A nuclear power plant, 72 thousand tons of standard and 80 - full displacement, a through flight deck, an aviation technical complex, including a corner deck, four steam catapults and an arrester made it a full-fledged functional analogue of American supercarriers.

As part of the air group, it was planned to use MiG-23A Molniya aircraft (a carrier-based version of the latest Soviet front-line fighter at that time), Su-24K missile-carrying bombers (a carrier-based version of a strike aircraft being developed at that time), anti-submarine defense aircraft specially designed for the aircraft carrier P- 42 Beriev Design Bureau, as well as "flying radars" at their base and helicopters. As aircraft technology developed, plans changed: in 1973, carrier-based versions of the Su-27 and MiG-29 being developed at that time were assumed as promising aircraft.

Image: Nevskoye Design Bureau

The creation of this ship required the solution of a number of technological problems, the main of which was the development of an arrester and steam catapults - devices that were not previously produced by the Soviet industry. There is no doubt about the possibility of creating these systems in the 1970s - by that time the USSR had all the necessary technologies.

However, the detailed development of the 1160 project was also not started. Instead of a new aircraft carrier, it was decided to continue the 1143 series, laying down the second ship of project 1143 in 1972 - the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Minsk, and in 1975 - Novorossiysk.

Attempt #4 and 5

Supporters of aircraft carriers, with the support of the Ministers of Defense and the shipbuilding industry, as well as the attention of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, continued to offer options. In 1973, based on the developments on project 1160, the Nevsky Design Bureau began developing project 1153, just like 1160, a nuclear aircraft carrier of the CATOBAR (Catapult Take-off But Arrested Recovery) scheme - with catapults and an arrester, but smaller in size and cheaper, with two catapults instead of four. This project, however, also had to carry anti-ship missiles, and the composition of the air group with a standard displacement of 60 thousand tons was supposed to reach 50 vehicles.

The construction of the ship was supposed to begin in 1978, but in 1976 the aircraft carrier lobby lost two main figures: on April 26, Defense Minister Andrei Grechko died, and on July 11, Shipbuilding Minister Boris Butoma. At the insistence of the new head of the military department, Dmitry Ustinov, the 1143 series was continued by the fourth ship - the Baku TAVKR.

Nevertheless, the fleet did not stop trying to get a ship capable of lifting conventional takeoff and landing aircraft. The Nevskoye Design Bureau began developing a new aircraft carrier project, as close as possible to Project 1143 in terms of general ship systems, in order to eliminate at least the barrier in the form of the cost of developing a new ship.

On September 1, 1982, the fifth ship of project 1143, the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Riga, was laid down on the slipway of the Black Sea Shipyard. It was the result of a compromise between the desire to finally get a normal aircraft carrier and the pressure of the "anti-aircraft carrier" lobby, which agreed to the maximum modification of the 1143 project. Technically, the 1143.5 ship project was a hybrid of the developments under the 1153 project and the research work (R&D) "Order", which were implemented on the original base of the project 1143.

In terms of size, 1143.5 with a standard displacement of 55 thousand tons was not much inferior to 1153, being significantly larger than its predecessors. The large area of ​​the deck and lifts made it possible to use heavy and bulky vehicles based on the Su-27, but the catapults were left from the project - instead, a springboard was to be used on the ship, which also allowed taking off with a shortened takeoff run.

The nuclear power plant also left - instead of it, "Riga", shortly after the laying was renamed "Leonid Brezhnev" in connection with the death of the Secretary General, received a boiler-turbine installation consisting of four turbo-gear units of the TV-12 family and eight KVG-4 steam boilers with a total capacity of 200 thousand horsepower. This version of the power plant determined the future of the TAVKR, after launching in 1985 it was renamed to Tbilisi, and in 1990, against the backdrop of the impending collapse of the USSR, to Admiral Kuznetsov of the Fleet of the Soviet Union.

Fleet of times of decay

"Kuznetsov" could not but be a problematic ship - its commissioning, which fell on the period of the collapse of the country, was fraught with serious organizational problems, not the least of which was the ambiguity of the fate of the ship: in the fall of 1991, the Navy command seriously considered the threat of the seizure of the ship in Sevastopol by Ukrainian separatists, who enjoyed a certain popularity, including in the Black Sea Fleet.

The result was the covert and hasty departure of Kuznetsov, at which work, including on the power plant, from the Black Sea to the Northern Fleet had not yet been fully completed.

The placement of the ship in the Kola Bay made it possible not to worry about her state affiliation, but did not contribute to normal commissioning: the vast majority of technical specialists remained on the Black Sea, without whom the maintenance of the aircraft carrier presented significant problems. In part, these problems were solved by the fact that the Northern Fleet included TAVKR "Kyiv" and "Admiral Gorshkov" (until 1990 it was called "Baku"), which had almost identical "Kuznetsov" power plants, however, a sharp reduction in military spending and the withdrawal of these ships from the first line to the reserve with a reduction in crews did not improve the situation.

In 1993, the first three ships of project 1143 - "Kyiv" and the Pacific Minsk and "Novorossiysk" were finally withdrawn from the Navy. In 1994, the fleet also lost the Admiral Gorshkov, which by that time had been put in for repairs after a fire in the aft engine and boiler room. In Nikolaev, work on the Kuznetsova sistership, the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Varyag (laid down in 1985 under the name Riga and renamed in 1990), was stopped. The last ship of the 1143 family - 1143.7, named "Ulyanovsk", in 1993 was cut on a slipway in Nikolaev in 20 percent readiness. In the future, the fate of these ships will develop in different ways, and the fate of Gorshkov and Varyag will be the most interesting: the first, after a long restructuring in Severodvinsk, will be transferred to India in 2013 as the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier, the second in 1998 will be sold by Ukraine to China at the price of scrap metal, in order to become the Liaoning aircraft carrier a decade and a half later.

"Ulyanovsk", laid down in 1988, when ideological dogmas had already begun to leave Soviet military construction, is as close as possible to a full-fledged aircraft carrier - a combined scheme with the simultaneous use of a springboard in the bow of the ship and catapults on the corner deck, large dimensions and nuclear power made it close in capabilities to the unrealized projects 1160 and 1153, as well as the nuclear aircraft carriers of the US Navy. However, he also had to carry anti-ship missiles.

In 1995, they decided to send the Admiral Kuznetsov to the Mediterranean Sea: the long trip was timed to coincide with the upcoming tercentenary next year Russian fleet. The first campaign could be the last - the breakdown of the power plant almost led to the loss of the ship in a storm. The aircraft carrier successfully completed the cruise and returned to the Kola Bay, but the state of the technical means of the electromechanical warhead remains a headache today.

The lack of funds for a full-fledged repair in the 1990s and early 2000s, combined with a shortage of trained specialists, made the ship's problems chronic. In part, they were able to be solved by cannibalization, removing the necessary parts from the destroyers of the 956 project, which used similar main turbo-gear units and boilers, but this was not a systemic solution to the problem. Energy problems seriously reduce the navigational capabilities of the ship, which affects the capabilities of its aircraft - to take off with a maximum take-off weight (that is, the largest fuel supply and combat load), it is necessary that the ship develop the highest possible speed. The existing operational restrictions lead to a reduction in the fuel supply and combat load, which affects the strike capabilities of the aircraft. Outwardly, problems with ship power are manifested, among other things, by excessive smoke in a number of modes - according to some experts, the direct cause of smoke may be a malfunction of the automatic control of the power plant, which does not allow the use of optimal fuel combustion modes.

Energy problems have become only part of the general shortcomings of Kuznetsov. For a long time, the degradation of the infrastructure continued, as well as the understaffed air group and the general state of the fleet, which until the 2000s had no funds for a full-fledged combat training, led to the loss of a significant part of the experience gained on previous ships in the operation of aircraft carriers. Now this experience essentially has to be acquired anew, but the only Russian aircraft carrier ship has by no means grown younger during this time.

The modernization and repair of the ship planned for the coming years should radically solve the problems of Kuznetsov, but this is not enough to preserve carrier-based aviation as a system. The Russian Navy still needs aircraft capable of covering its deployment away from the coast, primarily to protect its own maritime borders in the Arctic and the Pacific. But in order for the creation of a new generation of aircraft carriers to become possible, the fleet must preserve and repair the Admiral Kuznetsov. There is no other source of personnel and technologies in this area in Russia.