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Originally Posted by Kapitan
The best carriers the russians ever made were the kiev class but they went over themselves with the kuznetsov which has alot of flaws in it.
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I would disagree. I won't know exactly how many design flaws the Kuznetsov has compared to the Kiev, but least the Kuznetsov's fighters, as a combat unit, are actually at least somewhat useful. Those POS Yak-38s basically can't defend and can't attack - all that space that went to them might as well have gone to extra heloes and a navalized S-200F system... in other words, it is a complete failure as a
concept.
Real blame, of course, should be to Ustinov. Maybe his ideas about a "cost-effective" V/STOL carrier could be somewhat valid in the 90s with the Yak-141 and then a JSF like craft (maybe even a Harrier), but with Yak-38s? What is he smoking? If he doesn't like carriers just ban the whole darn proposal and put more money on subs or ground-based naval aviation or soemthing.