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Ilya Kramnik

RIAC Expert

The history of Russia's aircraft carrier program is long and thorny. Research carried out in the 1920s-1930s never became reality due to the lamentable state of the economy and, later, World War II. After the war, the navy’s expenditure was slashed to finance the development of nuclear weapons and air defenses and to maintain a powerful army. After he came to power, Nikita Khrushchev declared large surface ships and aviation obsolete.

The history of Russia's aircraft carrier program is long and thorny. Research carried out in the 1920s-1930s never became reality due to the lamentable state of the economy and, later, World War II. After the war, the navy’s expenditure was slashed to finance the development of nuclear weapons and air defenses and to maintain a powerful army. After he came to power, Nikita Khrushchev declared large surface ships and aviation obsolete.

Carrier research resumed after Khrushchev left office. However, the approaches to sea-based aviation within the navy turned out to be diverse enough to generate striking hybrids like the Project 1143 heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers equipped with the uninspiring Yak-38 VTOL aircraft and high power missiles. And it was only on the eve of the USSR’s collapse that the navy received the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, which comes very close to being a standard aircraft carrier. At the same time, at the Chernomorsky Shipyard outfitting quay work was underway on the Varyag, an equivalent to the Admiral Kuznetsov. Meanwhile, the nuclear-powered Ulyanovsk was being built on the berth to become the Soviet Union’s first full-fledged carrier. However, the projects were shut down following the collapse of the USSR.

The watchwords of Russia’s surface ship program are succession and caution.

The Russian Navy currently has only one carrier, i.e. the very same Admiral Kuznetsov, while its “twin” Varyag was sold to China in 1998 at the scrap-metal price of 20 million dollars and converted into the Liaoning. Its predecessors were either scrapped or became floating museums and entertainment centers. Admiral Gorshkov, the fourth Soviet heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser in line, was the luckiest: it underwent lengthy repairs and upgrading work in Severodvinsk over the period 2004-2012 and was reborn as the Vikramaditya, an Indian Navy aircraft carrier. In the 1990s, the incomplete Ulyanovsk was cut up for scrap right there on the berth.

However, Russian leaders keep returning to the subject of naval aviation. Hefty spending on a new sea-based aviation training center in Yeysk and the acquisition of new deck-based jet fighters would hardly seem reasonable in the absence of plans to advance the project. But how can it be moved forward?

Successive Approximation

Photo: navy.su
Heavy Aircraft-Carrying Cruisers "Novorossiysk"
Project 1143)

The watchwords of Russia’s surface ship program are succession and caution. Russia is implementing several projects of increasing sophistication. Stage one involves the completion of previous programs and construction of corvettes, short-range ships, while stage two should expand to long-range frigates. This will be followed by the construction of multipurpose landing ships and destroyers, in parallel with the upgrading of Soviet-built cruisers, which means the significant reinforcement of the navy with ocean-going ships. The projects also serve to optimize new-generation equipment, armaments, and ship systems on a “from-simple-to-complex” basis. For the first time in national practice, special attention has been given to building unity, as Russia’s new-generation surface ship would be kitted out with the universal multipurpose combat system and vertical launching systems (VLS) for a wide range of missiles.

Russian engineers seem to have been inspired by the U.S. Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers equipped with the Aegis Combat System and VLS Mark 41(Mk 41). The ships’ electronics ensures detection, tracking, targeting, and destruction of surface, subsurface, air and onshore targets, as well as single ship and group control – including aircraft of different types. These vertical launch systems are compatible with virtually all types of U.S. Navy missiles and underwater missiles, and also make it possible to carry out diverse missions with no loss in efficiency.

Simply ensuring defense against a country which has a carrier fleet becomes something of a lottery without carriers of one's own. Squeezed up to bases and on-shore airfields, the defending fleet will mean ceding the initiative from the outset.

Russia is also taking steps to adopt this approach. But in the absence of aircraft carriers, the navy will be severely limited, since beyond the operational range of land-based aircraft, ships will only be employable in police operations against a poorly armed enemy. Without air support, action against countries with relatively modern navies and/or air force would seem a highly risky endeavor, even in nearby areas. Simply ensuring defense against a country which has a carrier fleet becomes something of a lottery without carriers of one's own. Squeezed up to bases and on-shore airfields, the defending fleet will mean ceding the initiative from the outset.

Thus, implementing the carrier program tops the pyramid, becoming the final stage and a prerequisite for the construction of the blue-water navy that is capable of being effective a long way from the coastline in offensive and active defense missions, which would seem a timely goal, since ever more countries are building and purchasing aircraft carriers.

Design Debates

Photo: tsushima.su
Aircraft Carrier "Admiral Kuznetsov"

Official reports on the likely construction of aircraft carriers for the Russian Navy first appeared in 2004, as on March 5, the Navy CINC Fleet Admiral Kuroyedov announced that Russia should build its new carrier by 2017. In May 2005, he confirmed the intention and added some details, such as launching the design work in 2005 and suggesting construction could take place after 2010. In the same interview, Admiral Kuroyedov mentioned the development of a new multipurpose deck-based aircraft, probably referring to the upgrade of sea-based fighter MIG-29K (Version 9-41). At first sight, the jet seems somewhat inferior to the heavy jet fighter SU-33, but the MIG-29K would appear preferable as it is more suited to deck basing, has a better load ratio and more advanced materials and equipment, especially since the Admiral Kuznetsov’s hangar can not accommodate a large group of heavy aircraft [1] .

This deficiency is a consequence of its "birthmarks," i.e. the enormous space occupied by missiles usually not found on standard carriers. Improvements involve lengthy and costly upgrading work. The new carrier is known to prioritize aircraft, according to Anatoly Shlemov, spokesman of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) who in 2009 said that the new ship will have no missiles.

Shlemov also said that the ship will have a displacement of about 60,000 tons, which means that the new carrier's dimensions should approximate those of the unfinished Soviet carrier Ulyanovsk (60,000-63,000 tons) and the British Queen Elizabeth¬-class carrier currently under construction (65,000 tons).

However, in 2012 Russian Naval command seemed to have rejected the USC's design, as the ship was too visible to radar, lacked an electromagnetic catapult and could not serve as a base for early warning aircraft. Some sources indicate that the new design really was based on the Ulyanovsk, which inherited numerous drawbacks from the Kuznetsov, albeit to a lesser extent.

Photo: korabley.net
Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Shiloh CG-67

Currently, Russian Naval command views the new carrier not just as an aircraft platform but as a naval aircraft-carrying complex kitted out with surface, subsurface, air and possibly space weapons. In short, the ship should feature a combat system capable of controlling manned aircraft and UAVs including satellites, and be equipped with classic aircraft, helicopters, UAVs and underwater robots. And, it would be logical to assume that a ship like that must be quite big.

The ship’s capabilities might be dramatically expanded by increasing its displacement from the standard 60,000-65,000 tons to 80,000 tons, thus bringing it closer to the currently available and future American carriers. Heavy carriers are the leaders in their class when it comes to the cost efficiency ratio. Price-wise, this kind of ship should fit somewhere between the U.S. Ford-class (12.4 billion dollars) and the British Queen Elizabeth-class (about 3.5 billion pounds less the wing). In view of the rise in Russian military spending, the sums distributed over 10 years do not seem excessive.

Catapult, Fighter, Helicopter, Radar

Photo: migavia.ru
MiG-29K & MiG-29KUB

In fact, Russia lacks two critical components needed in launching construction work on an 80,000-ton carrier, i.e. the catapult and the early warning aircraft. That said, it has the assets needed to design and build both of these in the foreseeable future, especially as, if construction work on the ship begins in 2015, it is not likely to be commissioned until 2022-2023. A new shipyard would be also desirable, but the available capacity will suffice.

Another prerequisite is the emergence of the new-generation of ship-based helicopters, as over the last two decades Russia has tended to lag behind in this field.

The fighter is a less pressing issue, since the MIG-29K Version 9-41 (9-47 for a two-seater) will be quite competitive for about 20 years, although by the middle or end of the next decade, Russia will require a new production fighter to form the core of sea-based aviation through to the 2050s.

Russia lacks two critical components needed in launching construction work on an 80,000-ton carrier, i.e. the catapult and the early warning aircraft. That said, it has the assets needed to design and build both of these in the foreseeable future, especially as, if construction work on the ship begins in 2015, it is not likely to be commissioned until 2022-2023.

Navy CINC Viktor Chirkov spoke about the need for a future ship-based aircraft complex in 2012. Currently, there seem to be two options. The most likely is to make the deck version of the T-50 fifth-generation fighter, while the other involves development of a new aircraft based on the non-existent fifth-generation lightweight platform.

Broadly speaking, work on the design of a future Russian aircraft carrier and concomitant infrastructure, including the above-mentioned training center, is at a stage when the project appears feasible in the foreseeable future. Consequently, there is every reason to incorporate the construction of the first carrier, and the provision of appropriate equipment into the State Armaments Acquisition Program 2016-2025 which is currently being compiled, and to amend and push the current Program 2011-2020 forward. Provided the funds needed are released, carrier construction could be launched in 2017-2018, and it could be commissioned before 2025, with at least one more by 2030.

1. As for this parameter (4,000 sq. m), the Russian ship is inferior even to the smaller French carrier Charles de Gaulle whose hangar measures 4,600 sq. m. American Nimitz-class has an area of 7,000 sq. m, although the F/A-18 Super Hornet is smaller than the SU-33.

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