Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier

Kuznetsov in January 1996
Class overview
Name: Kuznetsov class
Builders: Chernomorsky Shipyard 444
Operators:
Preceded by: Kiev class
Succeeded by:
Subclasses:
Built: 1982 – present
In commission: 25 December 1990 – present
Building: 1
Completed: 2
Active: 2
General characteristics
Class and type: Heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser
Displacement:
  • 43,000-tonnes, light[1][2]
  • 53,000 – 55,200-tonnes, standard[1][2][3]
  • 58,600 – 67,500-tonnes, max[1][2]
Length: 305 m (1,001 ft)
Beam: 72 m (236 ft)
Draught: 11 m (36 ft)
Propulsion:
  • Steam turbines 80,000 shp (60,000 kW)[3]
  • 200,000 shp (150,000 kW)
Speed: 29 kn (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Range: 8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) @ 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph) 3,800 nmi (7,000 km; 4,400 mi) @ 29 kn (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Complement: 1,500
Armament:
Aircraft carried:
  • 30–50[4]
  • 18–32 × fixed wing aircraft
  • 17–24 × helicopters
Aviation facilities:

The Kuznetsov-class aircraft carriers were the last class of aircraft carriers designed for the Soviet Navy. Two hulls were laid down in the Ukrainian SSR before the Soviet Union collapsed. Kuznetsov serves today in the Russian Navy, while her sister ship Liaoning serves in the Chinese Navy.[5] The Chinese designation of this ship class is Type 001, and additional ships are being built to a modified Type 001A design. [6]

Role

The Kuznetsov class ships are were described by her Soviet builders as tyazholiy avianesushchiy kreyser (TAKR or TAVKR) – “heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser” – intended to support and defend strategic missile-carrying submarines, surface ships, and maritime missile-carrying aircraft of the Soviet fleet. In its fleet defense role the Admiral Kuznetsov's P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 NATO reporting name: Shipwreck) anti-ship cruise missiles, 3K95 Kinzhal (Gauntlet) surface-to-air missiles, and Su-33 (Flanker-D) aircraft are its main weapons. The fixed-wing aircraft on Kuznetsov are intended for air superiority operations to protect a deployed task force. The carrier also carries numerous helicopters for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and search and rescue (SAR) operations.

Transiting the Turkish Straits

Under the Montreux Convention, the Soviet Union was not allowed to transit aircraft carriers heavier than 15,000 tons through the Turkish Straits. However, there is no tonnage restriction on capital ships operated by Black Sea Powers.[7] Turkey has always allowed the Kuznetsov to pass through the Straits, and no other signatory to the Montreux Convention has objected to its designation as an aircraft cruiser.[8]

The Chinese Navy considers this class of ship to be aircraft carriers.[9] Liaoning is armed only with air defense weapons, and it does not have the anti-ship missiles or anti-submarine rockets that are on Kuznetsov. China is not located on the Black Sea, so it does not need and cannot use the tonnage exception for capital ships from Black Sea Powers.

Design

Hull and flight deck

The hull design is derived from the 1982 Kiev class,[10] but is larger. The flight deck, with an area of 14,700 square metres (158,000 sq ft), is of a conventional angled-deck-carrier configuration, but equipped with a 12-degree ski-jump on its bow instead of using aircraft catapults. This results in a configuration similar to that of the Spanish Navy's Príncipe de Asturias.

The shape of her flight deck is loosely similar to those of the U.S. Navy's and French Navy's aircraft carriers. Admiral Kuznetsov has a so-called "STOBAR" configuration: her flight deck is equipped with landing arrester-wires, but she has no catapults. The navalised Flanker has 12 hard points instead of ten and ordnance was limited to 6,500 kg (14,300 lb), because of the fighter's higher maximum takeoff weight (MTOW). Two aircraft elevators, on her starboard side forward and aft of her island, move her aircraft between her hangar deck and her flight deck.

Air wing

In the original project specifications, the ship should be able to carry up to 33 fixed-wing aircraft and 12 helicopters .[3]

Armament

Admiral Kuznetsov has twelve launchers for P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) anti-ship surface-to-surface missiles, unlike NATO aircraft carriers which carry mainly surface-to-air weapons and little organic armament. The presence of this sizable anti-ship missile capability determines its typing as an aircraft-carrying cruiser.

For long-range air defense, the ship carries 24 vertical launchers for Tor missile system (SA-N-9 Gauntlet) surface-to-air missiles with 192 missiles.

For close-range air defense, the ship carries eight Kashtan Close-in weapon system (CIWS) mounts. Each mount has two launchers for 9M311 SAMs, twin GSh-30 30mm rotary cannons, and a radar/optronic director. The ship also carries six AK-630 30mm rotary cannons in single mounts.

For defense against underwater attack, the ship carries the UDAV-1 ASW rocket launcher.

Electronics

A Su-33 on board Admiral Kuznetsov

The ship has D/E band air and surface target acquisition radar (passive electronically scanned array), F band surface search radar, G/H band flight control radar, I band navigation radar, and four K band fire-control radars for the Kashtan CIWS.

The ship has hull-mounted medium- and low-frequency search and attack sonar. The ASW helicopters have surface search radar, dipping sonar, sonobuoys, and magnetic anomaly detectors.

Propulsion and performance

Admiral Kuznetsov is conventionally powered by eight gas-fired boilers and four steam turbines, each producing 50,000 hp (37 MW), driving four shafts with fixed-pitch propellers. The maximum speed is 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph), and her range at maximum speed is 3,800 nautical miles (7,000 km; 4,400 mi). At 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), her maximum economical range is 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi).

Reliability

Since the inauguration of Admiral Kuznetsov it has been plagued by years of technical problems. The vessel's steam turbines and turbo-pressurised boilers have been reported to be that unreliable that the carrier is accompanied by a large ocean-going tug whenever it deploys, in case it breaks down. Other problems include flaws in the water piping system which causes it to freeze during winter. To prevent pipes bursting, the water is turned off to most of the cabins and half the latrines do not work.[11]

List of ships

Name Namesake Operator Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Status
Admiral Kuznetsov
(ex-Riga, ex-Leonid Brezhnev, ex-Tblisi)		 Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov  Russian Navy Soviet Shipyard No. 444 1 April 1982 6 December 1985 25 December 1990 Active in Service
Liaoning
(ex-Riga, ex-Varyag)		 Liaoning Province  People's Liberation Army Navy Soviet Shipyard No. 444 6 December 1985 4 December 1988 25 September 2012 Active in Service
Dalian Shipbuilding (completion)
Type 001A subclass
 People's Liberation Army Navy Dalian Shipbuilding 2016 Under construction

Hull 1 – Admiral Kuznetsov

Admiral Kuznetsov underway in 2012

Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov was designed by the Neva Design Bureau, St. Petersburg, and built at Nikolayev South Shipyard in Ukraine. She was launched in 1985, commissioned in 1990, and became fully operational in 1995. The vessel was briefly sequentially named Riga, Leonid Brezhnev, and Tbilisi.[3] During the winter of 1995–1996 Admiral Kuznetsov deployed to the Mediterranean Sea to mark the 300th anniversary of the Russian Navy. In the autumn of 2000, Admiral Kuznetsov went to sea for rescue and salvage operations for the submarine Kursk. During the winter of 2007–2008, Admiral Kuznetsov again deployed to the Mediterranean.

Although technical and financial problems have limited operations, Admiral Kuznetsov is expected to remain in service to 2025.

Hull 2 – Liaoning

Liaoning on commissioning day in Dalian in 2012

The second hull of the Kuznetsov class took a much more roundabout route to active service. Known first as Riga and then Varyag, she was laid down by Nikolayev South Shipyard in 1985 and launched in 1988. Varyag had not yet been commissioned when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, and was left to deteriorate in the elements. In 1998, the hull was sold by Ukraine to what was apparently a Chinese travel agency for ostensible use as a floating hotel and casino[5] with the proviso that she would never become a functioning warship. After an eventful journey under tow, she arrived in China in February 2002 and was berthed at the Dalian naval shipyard, where she was overhauled and completed as China's first aircraft carrier.[12]

In September 2012, the ship was commissioned in the Chinese navy as Liaoning,[13] named after the province where the shipyard is located. The Chinese class name of Liaoning is Type 001. Today, she serves as a training carrier and its home port is Qingdao.[14]

Hull 3 – Chinese carrier CV-17

Chinese aircraft carrier CV-17 is under construction to a modified design, known as Type 001A. Photos of the ship reveal some differences from the original Kuznetsov class design, reflecting over 30 years of technological development since the first ship in the class was laid down. The ship will apparently carry a 3-D phased array radar.[15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov". Rusnavy.com. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Kuznetsov Class – Project 1143.5". Globalsecurity.org. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ударные корабли, Том 11, часть 1, Ю.В. Апалков, Галея Принт, Санкт-Петербург, 2003
  4. 1 2 3 http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/world/2016/10/161026_spain_russia_carrier
  5. 1 2 "China aircraft carrier confirmed by general". BBC News. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Lin, Jeffrey (May 20, 2016). "China's New Carrier Gets A Ski Ramp". Popular Science.
  7. ↑ Miller, David V.; Hine, Jr., Jonathan T. (31 January 1990). Soviet Carriers in the Turkish Straits (PDF). Newport, Rhode Island: Naval War College.
  8. ↑ John Pike. "Montreux Convention 1936". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  9. ↑ Tao, Zhang (2015-10-20). "Captain delegation of U.S. Navy visits Chinese Liaoning aircraft carrier". Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China.
  10. ↑ "Kuznetsov Class (Type 1143.5) Heavy Aircraft Carrying Cruiser, Russia". Naval-technology.com. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  11. ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/21/russian-carrier-plagued-by-technical-problems/
  12. ↑ "China's first aircraft carrier 'starts sea trials'". BBC News. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "China's Liaoning carrier enters service". SpaceWar.com. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "Liaoning Ship's first berthing at home port". People's Daily. 1 March 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  15. ↑ Tate, Andrew (26 September 2016). "Further progress made on China's Type 001A carrier | IHS Jane's 360". IHS Jane's Defence Weekly.

External links

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