According to information published by Военный Осведомитель on April 7, 2022, the Russian Navy's only aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, will dock in April for repairs and modernizations, the work will continue until September.
Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link
Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov (Picture source: Ria Novosti)
Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov is an aircraft carrier (heavy aircraft cruiser in Russian classification) serving as the flagship of the Russian Navy.
She was built by the Black Sea Shipyard, the sole manufacturer of Soviet aircraft carriers, in Nikolayev within the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) and launched in 1985, becoming fully operational in the Russian Navy in 1995.
She was originally commissioned in the Soviet Navy, and was intended to be the lead ship of the two-ship Admiral Kuznetsov class. However, her sister ship Varyag was still incomplete when the Soviet Union disbanded in 1991. The second hull was eventually sold by Ukraine to China, completed in Dalian, and commissioned as Liaoning.
The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier has a 14,700m² flight deck area and she uses ski-jump technology to assist the aircraft during the take-off. The ship can carry a total of up to fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft including 18 Su-33 carrier-based twin-engine fighter aircraft, 6 MiG-29K all-weather carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft, four Ka-31 naval helicopters, and two Ka-27 naval helicopters.
The is powered by eight turbo-pressurized boilers and four steam turbines, each producing 50,000hp, nine 2,011 hp (1,500 kW) turbo generators, six 2,011 hp (1,500 kW) diesel generators driving four shafts with fixed-pitch propellers.
She can reach a top speed of 29 knots (33 mph; 54 km/h) with a maximum cruising range of 8,500 nmi. (15,700 km) at 18 knots (21 mph; 33 km/h). The Russian aircraft carrier has an endurance of 45 days.
The aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is the only aircraft carrier in the Russian Navy and operates with the Northern Fleet. Russia has ambitious plans to modernize its naval forces deployed in the High North.
