TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov": construction and prospects

TAVKR "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov" - the only operating 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 flotillas and protection against the invasion of the alleged enemy. The ship was named after N. G. Kuznetsov, Admiral of the Fleet of the USSR. The construction of the cruiser took place in Nikolaev, at the shipyard in Chernomorsk, now it is included in the equipment of the Northern Fleet. The aircraft are capable of being based on MIG-29K, Su-25, Su-33 and modification helicopters Ka-27/29 / 52K.

Design

Designing of TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" started in 1978 under the leadership of the PKB from Leningrad.

There are several design developments that ultimately resulted in building ships or remained in the form of mock-ups and sketches:

• Project 1153 . Displacement of the planned ship is designed for 70 00 tons, it was supposed to be equipped with powerful weapons (except for the main aviation group).
• No. 1143M . In the plans was the placement on the cruiser of supersonic fighters Yak-41 with vertical take-off.
• Prototype 1143 A. It is similar to the aircraft carrier of the previous design, but with a large displacement (the fourth aircraft carrier built in the Union).
• Project 1143.5 TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" is a high-power, fifth and last Soviet aircraft carrier built.

The final technical documentation was ready by mid-1980. Presumably the construction was to be completed in 1990. However, the deadlines for delivery and commissioning were constantly shifted for various reasons.

Start of creation

In early spring of 1981, the shipyard in Nikolaev receives a well-earned order for the construction of a new cruiser. True, already in the autumn of the same year, significant additions and changes are made to the project, the main one of which is an increase in the ship's displacement by 10 thousand tons.

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

• The ship's side had to be equipped with the Granit rocket launcher.
• There was a need to expand the aviation group to 50 cars.
• A significant change was that the launch of the aircraft was to be carried out without a catapult, by means of a take-off takeoff. This prospectively reduced the cost of the structure and further contributed to the extension of the technical resource of the aircraft carrier.

Finishing work

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

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

Installation of airborne equipment

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

Next year for the domestic aircraft carrier also did not do without changes. The new designer P. Sokolov made his own corrections, and in the middle of the year 87 the ship, which was unfinished until the end, was renamed again. Now he became "Tbilisi". The percentage of readiness increased to 60%. Delays from suppliers did not allow the construction to be completed quickly, 70% of the readiness was reached only by the end of 1989.

The cost of TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" at that time was more than seven hundred million rubles. Soon again replaced the chief designer, he became L. Belov. The main part of the radio-electronic equipment was installed four and a half years later, the ship's readiness was 80%.

Hiking 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, and on the first of November of the same year, a test landing of MiG-29 and Su-27 was carried out.

Completely ammunition and radio engineering systems at the military unit 20506 of the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" were installed only in 1990 (overall readiness was about 90%). In the same time interval the sea trials of the vessel were made. In the middle of autumn the ship received the final name, under which it still walks.

At the first stage of testing, the aircraft carrier independently mastered more than 16,000 miles. From the take-off strips of the aircraft, the planes produced almost 500,000 sorties. All the landing on the cruiser did without emergency, that for the initial testing of ships - an excellent result.

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

Technical features

In the deck part and on the bow-springboard special fairings are mounted. Operating aircraft on the deck of the aircraft carrier are delivered by lifts, each of which can overpower 40 tons. The width of the deck is 67 meters. The length of the cruiser is almost 305 meters, the rate of its draft is 10.5 m.

Targeted for the landing of aviation is a part of the deck with a length of 250 and a width of 26 meters. It has a slope of seven degrees. There are a couple of main start bands.

The engines at the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" are boiler turbine, four-shaft with powerful turbo and diesel generators. As a propulsor, four screws protrude (each has 5 blades). The maximum speed is 29 knots (55 km / h). In autonomous navigation, the cruiser can hold up to a month and a half. The crew consists of almost two thousand people.

Armament

Below are the combat calculations and capabilities of the aircraft carrier:

• The navigation complex is Beisur.
• Radar - "Mars-Passat", "Fregat-MA", "Podkat", "Vaigach".
• Means of radio-electronic type - BIUS "Lesohub", SJSC "Polynom", "Zvezda", complex "Buran-2", "Constellation-BR";
• Anti-aircraft ammunition - 6 × 6 AK-630 (48 thousand supplies);
• The missiles are the PU of the Granit, Dirk, and Dagger;
• Anti-submarine weapons (60 bombs) - RBU-12000;
• Aviation group - fifty units (helicopters and airplanes).

Scale

To understand the greatness of the cruiser, it can be noted that its height is comparable to a 27-storey house. Inside there are almost four thousand rooms for various purposes. During the construction it was spent 4 thousand kilometers of cable, 12 thousand kilometers of pipes of different diameters and functionality. There are about half a hundred shower rooms on the ship. Hangar closed type (153 * 26 * 7.2 meters) accommodates 70 percent of the regular aviation group. Underwater structural protection consists of armored and longitudinal partitions, its depth is about five meters.

The current evaluation of the project 1143.5

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

Substantial claims exist for the energy system. Often going to sea is accompanied by varying degrees of freelance situations. It should be emphasized that in each long trip the cruiser leaves together with the tugboat. The recent access to the Mediterranean Sea is another confirmation of this.

Many waited, the CIA "Admiral Kuznetsov" when he went to Syria. And not so long ago it happened. Of course, not without problems, but the ship still crossed the path back and forth. In the next two years, another major overhaul of the cruiser is planned.