TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov": construction and prospects

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

TAVKR "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov" is the only active heavy cruiser aircraft carrier in the modern Navy of the Russian Federation. Its main purpose is the elimination of massive surface targets, the defense of naval fleets and protection from the invasion of the alleged enemy. The ship was named in honor of N. G. Kuznetsov, Admiral of the Fleet of the USSR. The construction of the cruiser took place in Nikolaev, at a shipyard in Chernomorsk, now it is part of the Northern Fleet. MIG-29K aircraft, Su-25, Su-33 groups and helicopters of Ka-27/29/52K modifications can be based on the ship.

Design

The design of the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" started in 1978 under the leadership of the Design Bureau from Leningrad.

There are several design developments that ultimately resulted in the construction of ships or remained in the form of layouts and sketches:

• Project 1153. The displacement of the planned ship is designed for 70 00 tons, it was assumedequipping with powerful weapons (except for the main aviation group).
• 1143 M. It was planned to deploy Yak-41 supersonic VTOL fighters on the cruiser.
• Prototype 1143 A. It has similarities with the aircraft carrier of the previous design, but with a large displacement (the fourth aircraft carrier built in the Union).
• TAVKR project 1143.5 "Admiral Kuznetsov" is a high-capacity, fifth and last Soviet built aircraft carrier.

The final technical documentation was ready by the middle of 1980. Construction was supposed to be completed in 1990. However, the deadlines for commissioning and commissioning were constantly shifted for various reasons.

Beginning of creation

In the early spring of 1981, a shipbuilding plant in Nikolaev receives a hard-won order for the construction of a new cruiser. True, already in the fall of the same year, significant additions and changes were made to the project, the main of which is an increase in the vessel's displacement by 10 thousand tons.

The final value of this indicator was 67,000 tons. In addition, the following structural adjustments were made:

• The board of the ship had to be equipped with the Granit anti-ship missile installation.
• There was a need to expand the aviation group to 50 aircraft.
• A significant change was that the launch of the aircraft had to be carried out without a catapult, by means of a springboard takeoff. This prospectively reduced the cost of the structure and further contributed toextension of the technical life of an aircraft carrier.

Finishings

TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" was finally modeled only in 1982. It happened in September at the shipyards of the city of Nikolaev. Initially, the ship was called "Riga", a couple of months later it was renamed "Leonid Brezhnev". By the end of the year, the first structural block was being installed on the cruiser in full. The ship itself (for the first time in the history of the USSR) consisted entirely of two dozen block structures.

In length, each block of TAVKR pr. 11435 "Admiral Kuznetsov" had about 32 meters with a height of 13 m. The mass of each element was 1.5-1.7 thousand tons. The superstructures of the huge aircraft carrier are also created according to the block system. It is worth noting that such a ship, with the appropriate supply of materials, instruments and other equipment, could be built in just four years, which would be an absolute record. However, delays with suppliers and the slow operation of factories caused excessive delays in the commissioning of the vessel.

Installation of on-board equipment

The aircraft carrier was launched from the stocks at the end of 1985. The mass of the hull and installed structures has not yet exceeded 32 thousand tons. The developers estimated the readiness of military unit 20506 TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" at 39%.

The next year for the domestic aircraft carrier was also not without changes. The new designer P. Sokolov made his own adjustments, and in the middle of 87, the ship, still unfinished to the end, was renamed again. Now it has become "Tbilisi". Percentage of completionincreased to 60%. Delays from suppliers did not allow the construction to be completed quickly, 70% completion was achieved only by the end of 1989

The cost of TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" at that time was more than seven hundred million rubles. Soon the chief designer was changed again, and L. Belov became him. The predominant part of the electronic equipment was installed four and a half years late, the readiness of the ship was 80%.

Campaign in the sea

This event happened on October 20, 1989. At that time, the aircraft carrier was almost ready, except for the absence of an aviation group. The maneuvers lasted more than a month, already on November 1 of the same year, a test landing of the MiG-29 and Su-27 was carried out.

Full ammunition and radio systems on the military unit 20506 TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" were installed only in 1990 (the overall readiness was about 90%). In the same time period, sea trials of the vessel were carried out. In mid-autumn, the ship received the final name, under which it still goes.

At the first stage of testing, the aircraft carrier independently mastered more than 16 thousand miles. From the runways of the ship, the planes made almost five hundred sorties. All landings on the cruiser were without incident, which is an excellent result for the launch tests of ships.

The first tests were completed at the end of 1990. More than a year passed the final stage of state acceptance, after which the ship was assigned to the Northern Fleet.

Specifications

In the deckparts and special fairings are mounted on the bow springboard. Operating aircraft are delivered to the deck of an aircraft carrier by means of lifts, each of which can handle 40 tons. The width of the deck is 67 meters. The cruiser is almost 305 meters long and has a draft of 10.5 meters.

Specially for the landing of aircraft, a part of the deck 250 meters long and 26 meters wide is used. It has a slope of seven degrees. A couple of basic trigger strips are provided.

The engines of the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" are boiler-turbine, four-shaft with powerful turbo and diesel generators. Four propellers act as a mover (each has 5 blades). The speed limit is 29 knots (55 km/h). In autonomous navigation, the cruiser can spend up to one and a half months. The crew consists of almost two thousand people.

Armaments

The combat crews and capabilities of the aircraft carrier are listed below:

• Navigation complex - "Beysur".
• Radar location - "Mars-Passat", "Fregat-MA", "Tackle", "Vaigach".
• Means of electronic type - CICS "Lesorub", SJSC "Polynom", "Zvezda", complex "Buran-2", "Constellation - BR";
• Aircraft ammunition - 6 × 6 AK-630 (48 thousand supplies);
• Missiles - PU SCRC "Granit", "Dagger", "Dagger";
• Anti-submarine weapons (60 bombs) - RBU-12000;
• Aviation Group - fifty units (helicopters and planes).

Scale

Toto understand all the greatness of the cruiser, it can be noted that its height is comparable to a 27-storey building. Almost four thousand rooms for various purposes are equipped inside. During the construction, 4 thousand kilometers of cable, 12 thousand kilometers of pipes of different diameters and functionality were spent. There are fifty shower rooms on the ship alone. A closed-type hangar (153267, 2 meters) accommodates 70 percent of the regular aviation group. Underwater structural protection consists of armored and longitudinal partitions, its depth is about five meters.

Modern evaluation of project 1143.5

The ship in question can be called a full-fledged aircraft carrier with full confidence. However, not everything is so smooth with this floating long-term construction. He spends most of his time at the repair docks.

There are significant claims to the energy system. Often going out to sea is accompanied by various degrees of emergency situations. It should be emphasized that the cruiser leaves with the tugboat on every long trip. The recent entry into the Mediterranean Sea is yet another confirmation of this.

Many people were waiting for the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" to go to Syria. And it happened not so long ago. Of course, not without problems, but the ship still overcame the way there and back. In the next two years, another major overhaul of the cruiser is planned.