The pinnacle of the Soviet aircraft carrier, the "brother" of the Liaoning ship,
, developed two large-deck aircraft carriers during the Soviet era. The first was the "Kiev" class. Four ships were built, codenamed 1143.1~1143.4. The second is the Kuznetsov and Varyag, codenamed 1143.5 and 1143.6, respectively. Because the high-level Soviet leaders at the time were passionately pursuing the idea of "missile decisive battle" and were dismissive of "floating coffins" such as aircraft carriers, the Soviet Navy named the two levels of aircraft carriers "aircraft anti-submarine ships" and "aircraft aircraft" in order to hide from the sky. cruiser". They not only retain the high-intensity firepower of anti-submarine ships and cruisers, but also take into account the appearance and characteristics of some aircraft carriers, but the design of the flight deck compromises the armament, and the deck utilization and aviation efficiency are not as good as the regular aircraft carriers of the US Navy.
Kiev-class aircraft carrier color map. In fact, 1143.1～1143.4 and 1143.5～1143.6 are two types of ships, which are very different from each other. As an initial attempt, the Soviet Union’s design of the Kiev-class anti-submarine ship still remained on the idea of "missile decisive battle". This class of aircraft carriers has different weapon configurations due to the differences between ships. However, the roughly equipped weapons are mainly 8 to 12 p-500 nuclear warhead anti-ship missiles, more than 100 short-range and medium- and short-range air defense missile systems, 16 ss-n-14 nuclear warhead anti-submarine missiles and other armed forces. Due to the inclined flight deck and parking point, the Kiev-class anti-submarine ship can carry 12 Yak 38 short-range vertical take-off and landing fighters, 19 Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopters, and 2 Ka-25b data guided helicopters. In combat, 12 Yak 38s dealt with the enemy’s carrier-based aviation and delayed the enemy’s offensive. The 19 Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopters searched for and attacked submarines in a "fan-shaped" anti-submarine formation, and the two Ka 25bs provided medium-range data guidance for the ship’s 500-kilometer p-500 nuclear warhead anti-ship missile.
, as an experimental work on the development of aircraft carriers by the Soviet Union, the Kiev-class aircraft carrier retains the characteristics of the aircraft carrier while still having strong shipboard firepower.
was born when the Kiev-class aircraft carrier was born, NATO intelligence agencies naively thought it was a small and medium-sized aircraft carrier with a displacement of 40,000 tons. In fact, this is an out-and-out anti-submarine cruiser with heavy firepower. Its decisive weapon is not 33 carrier-based aircraft, but 8 to 12 p-500 nuclear warhead anti-ship missiles and 16 nuclear warhead anti-submarine missiles. The carrier-based aircraft is only the icing on the cake, providing more opportunities for the Kiev-class anti-submarine ships to attack the opponent's aircraft carrier. When the main force of the NATO navy is pinned down by the carrier-based aircraft, the p-500 coming from the sea can have the effect of "a final word".
The Kiev-class anti-submarine ship cruising the sea, although majestic, still has many shortcomings.
However, the performance of the Kiev-class anti-submarine ship is only floating between the cruiser and the aircraft carrier. It is not high or low. It is still very different from the regular aircraft carrier envisaged by the Soviet Navy. Moreover, the 12 Yak-38 fighters were difficult to deal with the superior carrier aviation of the U.S. Navy at that time, which forced the Soviet Union to develop other large-scale carrier-based ships and supporting high-performance carrier-based aircraft. For this reason, on the basis of the Kiev-class anti-submarine ships of the Soviet Navy, the 1143.5 type carrier cruiser has been further developed. Compared with the Kiev-class anti-submarine ships, its combat performance has been doubled. The aircraft-carrying cruiser
Kuznetsov further increased its tonnage to 58,000-ton class, and its aviation efficiency was greatly enhanced. As the pinnacle of the "aircraft carrier" in the Soviet era, the Kuznetsov aircraft carrier can carry more than 30 various carrier aircraft. Although the number has not changed much, the Kuznetsov carrier cruiser can operate the Su-33 heavy fighter. This fighter had good air control capabilities at the time, and could be used in a frontal confrontation with the US Navy’s main carrier aircraft, the F-14 at the time, while the ship-to-ship strike was mainly performed by the p-700 anti-ship missile with a range of 550 kilometers. Although the
Su-33 fighter has strong air superiority, its ability to strike against ships is almost zero. In the decades of service, almost no combat against ships has been drilled.
According to the Soviet Navy’s visionIf the USS Kuznetsov's aircraft-based cruiser collides with the US Navy’s aircraft carrier battle group, then the Su 33 carrier aircraft will cooperate with the Ka 31 early warning helicopter to block the carrier-based aircraft group of the US Navy’s carrier-based aviation. Then, the aircraft carrier Kuznetsov approached the US Navy aircraft carrier at high speed, launching a total of 12 p-700 nuclear warhead anti-ship missiles in 3 waves. There are 4 missiles per wave, of which 3 are conventional warheads and 1 is a nuclear warhead. As long as the nuclear warhead missile can successfully hit the target, it can ensure that the aircraft carrier is sunk. Therefore, from this point of view, the combat capability of the Kuznetsov aircraft carrier is completely possible to defeat the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.
"aircraft" layout of the p-700 anti-ship missile. The warhead can choose to load nuclear warheads of more than 5,000 tons of tnt. The power caused by a single one is far stronger than the ordinary
. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Kuznetsov became a "chicken rib"
. In the early 1990s, the Soviet Union was actually on the verge of disintegration. However, on the eve of the disintegration, the Soviet Navy began construction of a large aircraft carrier named "Ulyanovsk". When the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier code-named "1143.7" was disintegrated in the Soviet Union, the ship had completed 45% of the construction work. However, due to the fact that Ukraine, which took over the two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers 1143.7 and 1143.8, cannot afford the huge construction costs, and its own demand is also quite limited. Therefore, under the interference of Western countries, the two aircraft carriers were dismantled before the completion of construction, especially when the construction of the second ship was just started. Z1z
Ulyanovsk-class aircraft carrier plans to build two ships, both of which have started since their disintegration. Although it also carries a large number of weapons, it is a regular aircraft carrier. This is true for large nuclear-powered aircraft carriers with a displacement of 80,000 tons, and a Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier with a displacement of 58,000 tons is not much better. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia inherited the aircraft carrier Kuznetsov, and the second ship Varyag was assigned to Ukraine. Because Ukraine could not afford the high cost of using the aircraft carrier, it was finally sold to China for US$20 million. The only photo of
Varyag and the aircraft carrier Kuznetsov. The former is now a "Liaoning ship", but the latter is paralyzed, and it is destined to be difficult to meet in this life.
Of course, now I can clarify my thinking. First, the former Soviet Union has developed three cruisers or regular aircraft carriers with aircraft carrier characteristics. There were a total of 8 ships in three levels including "Kiev" (4 ships), "Kuznetsov" (2 ships) and "Ulyanovsk" (2 ships). Among them, Russia received 4 Kiev-class ships and 1 Kuznetsov-class, and Ukraine received Kuznetsov-class II ships and 2 Ulyanovsk-class ships. Due to "unavailability", the first two of the four Kiev-class ships were sold to China after dismantling key equipment, the third was dismantled, and the fourth was sent to India. It is now the "Vikramatia" aircraft carrier. .
At first, Russia and Belarus sent a Kiev-class aircraft carrier to India, but the cost of modification and other equipment was as high as US$2.9 billion.
As for the Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, it has actually been reduced to a "chicken rib". This is Russia's helplessness. First of all, the use of large ships is expensive, and maintenance is an astronomical figure. After the Kuznetsov accident, the Russian Ministry of Defense deliberately kept the only remaining aircraft carrier. However, because the repair price reached 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, it was beyond Russia's affordability. You know, the total military expenditure of the Russian army in 2019 is only 43 billion US dollars.
is not what the Russian army doesn’t want, but it’s really not.
For the Russian Navy, they originally planned to take advantage of this maintenance to modify the aircraft carrier Kuznetsov, focusing on upgrading the missile system on the ship, and refitting. A batch of carrier-based aircraft. The original p-700 nuclear warhead anti-ship missile was replaced with a "zircon" hypersonic anti-ship missile and a "caliber" cruise missile system. The former has a range of more than 700 kilometers, and the latter has a range of 2,000 kilometers. The
air defense missile system and radar system will also be replaced, mainly to install all the long-range and medium-range air defense missiles that are now being installed and popularized in large numbers. The original "Sky Sentinel" passive phased array radar was changed to an active phased array radar system of the same type as the 22350 frigate. After all these modifications are put into practice, the Kuznetsov aircraft carrier can rely on its powerfulFirepower once again poses a deadly threat to the US Navy’s aircraft carrier battle group. Z1z
aircraft carrier Kuznetsov after heavy damage.
However, the ideal is ultimately lost to the reality. A catastrophe not only destroyed the aircraft carrier, but also caused huge losses to the technical equipment in the shipyard and directly broke the last hope of the Russian Navy. Originally, the Russian Navy wanted to do its best to retain an ocean-going formation composed of large-tonnage ships, so that when necessary, it could go out to the sea to perform complex combat missions. However, now only a part of the 1155 "Dreadnought" class large anti-submarine ship and the 1164 "Glorious" class guided guided-missile cruiser remain. These are among the few large-tonnage combat ships in active service of the Russian Navy, and they are in good condition and can be dispatched at any time.
Kirov-class nuclear-powered cruiser No. 4 ship "Peter the Great". In 2019, the Peter the Great sailed less than 20 days a year.
In contrast to the composition of these ships, the 1143.5 aircraft carrier was decommissioned, and the four 1144 Kirov-class nuclear-powered cruisers were left with only one "Peter the Great" that could go to sea from time to time.
