Calling it this, rather than an Aircraft Carrier, allows the Soviet/Russian navy to circumvent the Montreux Convention, which prohibits Aircraft Carriers from passing the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
Those sly Ruskies…what will they think of next?
Oh, and I heard China owns an unfinished one of these things, purchased from the Ukraine when Russia figured out they couldn\’t pay for it. The Chinese turned it into a floating Casino…
Oh, those sneaky sneaky Russians. Maybe they could use that aircraft carrier to forcefully take back Alaska. After all, there’s nothing of value up there except for oil.
@...Sticky:
Whoops, my bad, the “Heavy Aircraft Carrying Cruiser.”
Yeah, but can it fly?
Russia only thinks of things that others have invented first. Then they think: “How can we steal this technology?”
Cheaper to steal than to R&D
“The Chinese turned it into a floating Casino…”They did not after all.They carefully examined it to see what they could learn from it,painted it “Peoples Army Navy Gray” and now it sits in a dockyard unused.(source Jane`s Defense).
1) The Montreux Convention (which forbids CVs (from transiting the Bosporus) is certainly part of it, but calling the Kuznetsovs an “aircraft-carrying cruiser” is more than just a nod to the treaty. Russian doctrine has always viewed “aviation cruisers” as supporting the other surface units of the fleet, as opposed to the US model where the carrier is the center-piece. Also, the Russians have a lot more options for dealing with Montreux — building the ships at other yards, changing the designation later, etc.. I think this is as much about doctrine and internal Russian Navy politics as Montreux.
2) It was another former Russian carrier, one of the Kievs, that the Chinese turned into a casino.
@...storminator:
no, its the japanese that copy the crap out of everything, then label it “type-something”
“2) It was another former Russian carrier, one of the Kievs, that the Chinese turned into a casino.”
Incorrect, it was the Kuznetsov’s sister ship:
“Varyag, briefly named Riga, was also built Nikolayev South Shipyard. The vessel was launched in 1988, but was never commissioned. She was given to Ukraine, and eventually sold by Ukraine to China, under the condition that she would never be refitted for combat.”
Also as for the designation something that bears mentioning is that the Kuznetsov’s are NOT as capable as American carriers, they carry fewer aircraft with MUCH lighter weapon capacity (as they lack catapults and catapult launched aircraft. The aircraft that it carries are limited to light weapons meaning that they are almost exclusively air-to-air outfitted fighters. They also carry MUCH heavier built-in weaponry than US carriers including many offensive weapons (American CV’s rely exclusively on aircraft and support ships for offensive projection). Thus their designation is acutally perfect for them, they carry the offensive weaponry of a cruiser and they also carry aircraft, aircraft carrying cruisers
Sweet it has a skateboard ramp!Russians are fucking cool.
@...fredgiblet:
VARYAG was **discussed** as being used as a casino (and a lot of other things as well), but was never actually turned into a casino or anything else. It’s basically just been sitting pier-side, but it is was repainted in PLAN colors. It is unclear as to what they intend to do with her; getting her operational would be problematic, as it appears she has significant engine damage. (Most reports say the engines were never installed, but there are a whole lot of naval architecture reasons to be suspicious of that report.)
The MINSK, on the other hand, was turned into a theme park exhibit of some kind. I thought it had been turned into a casino, but I may have been wrong about that part of the story.
I agree about the designation being appropriate. (In fact, I’ve made exactly that point when I have done presentations on this subject.)
It’s half the size of the Nimitz.
It’s almost as big as an Iowa. I guess even in the Soviet Union, they had to name ships one class smaller to get people to pay for it.