I will say after reviewing the Kuznetsov design it is very poor indeed, i hve found many flaws in the construction and design of the carrier i think the Russian navy would still be better suited to using the smaller Kiev class as it implements the whole self defence role alot better.
Putting a VLS system in the middle of the runway is in my opinion not the best idea, those hatches have been damaged by heavy seas many times before so whats a SU-27 going to do if it lands hard or crashed on them?
the lack of a catapult is a draw back it does mean the SU-27 and MIG-29 cant take off with a full payload, again the catapults cant be put into the ship because the missile tubes and VLS systems are in the way.
If the russians had gone with the "harrier" approach i think then yes this vessel could definatly be a force to be reconed with even though they use some of the best fighters in the world on this ship there is a big lack still and its a big one the aircraft that take off are very vulnreble.
the ship itself can choose either to defend itself or let the aircraft take off which means that it cannot sail alone theres a big confusion about the missile systems and where they are placed if an incoming missile was to be on final and a plane was on final the CIWS would hit the incoming plane !
I think the kuznetsov is all bark no bite but it still a capible vessel no matter and still can pack a punch, ive seen the vessel from a distance and even so its huge the missiles are huge the centre island is huge the whole ship is huge however the engines are small and so the ship is also underpowerd and only has four four bladed propellors where as the USN nimitz has four five bladed propellors.
In reality if the russian navy had two nimitz class carriers i think then totaly the russian navy would be a potent force, it has now got one operation carrier.
What i have learnt from the russian navy is that its not a carrier navy like the USA its a submarine navy all emphasis is on the submarines and they are the first units to recieve funding then its the kuznetsov and kirov then everything else.
I last saw the Kuznetsov in 2003 in murmansk in refit, and she was looking a bit worse for wear (bear in mind she had been sand blasted for repaint) but just too look at her and sum up her capibilitys i could have cried when it dawned on me here is one useless piece of junk. (not 100% true but still).
When the russian navy enters in its new carriers i hope the design is A) not rushed and B) suitible for the needs of the navy.
The plans so far are for two 65,000 tonne carriers to operate SU-27 and MIG-29 and possibly a new aircraft also to operate the KA-27 and KA-31 helix with the capibilitys to deck handle the MI-24 Hind gun ships.
The carriers i would immagine to be on the same scale or bigger than the kuznetsov and the displacement may well go up to 85,000 tonnes its dependant on the design station that plans these vessels.
I would like to see a missile system such as a SS-N-22 VLS launched ship defence system and SA-N-9 SAM missile systems and also newer versions of the CIWS systems as well as better protected sensors and at least an attempt to start with stealth tech.
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