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Russia’s only aircraft carrier caught fire on Thursday, only a matter of months before it was meant to return to sea after lengthy repairs.The Admiral Kuznetsov was close to being released back to the Russian navy after years of repairs when it caught fire, Alexei Rakhmanov, head of the state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), told Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency.“There has been a little problem during repairs,” Mr Rakhmanov said. “The blaze has been put out. All fire alarms worked normally. There are no casualties or damage.”About 20 people were evacuated from the ship that caught fire at the drydock...

Following the sinking of one of the world’s largest dry docks on October 29 in a shipyard in the far northwest part of Russia, officials have finally admitted that they are unable to continue work on Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, for the time being. While Russia’s shipbuilding industry is reportedly looking into alternatives, no timely and viable solution to continue retrofitting work on the Russian Navy’s flagship has emerged to date. “We have alternatives actually for all the ships except for [the aircraft carrier] Admiral Kuznetsov. Our enterprises are in operation, [including] the Nerpa [Ship Repair Factory],”...

MiG-29K/KUBs are seen during sea trials aboard Kuznetsov in 2013. (photo: Russian Aircraft MiG) The Russian navy has embarked on a three-year project to modernize its sole aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, or Project 1143.5, with a focus on achieving full operability with the Russian Aircraft MiG-29K/KUB fighter. Although navalized MiGs flew from the carrier during trials in 1989-1991 and during its seventh and most recent deployment to the Mediterranean Sea in late 2016/early 2017, they are yet to be completely integrated with the carrier’s systems. According to the Nevskoye Design Bureau, the ship’s developer, some of the outdated onboard equipment...

Russia's sole fixed-wing aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, returned from Syria late last winter to finally begin a long and supposedly deep refit and modernization that would allow it to serve for years to come. The carrier's overhaul, which had been put off time and time again over the last decade, is said to cost over $800M, and will take nearly half a decade to accomplish. But just as we at The War Zone had concerns about, it seems that Moscow is now significantly reducing the scope of work for the refit due to fiscal considerations, with only about half...

Russia's only and therefore mightiest carrier by default, the Admiral Kuznetsov, transited the Mediterranean last month to great controversy. The ship was accused—rightly so—of moving into position to support the bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Aircraft from the carrier were spotted over Aleppo the first day it began air operations over Syria. Since then Kuznetsov has lost two of fifteen fighters of its assigned air wing to accidents, and flight operations have been suspended at least once. A Russian television news report shot on the carrier itself attempts to portray the ship as a hive of activity but...

MOSCOW --- The Russian Naval Aviation’s planes and helicopters on board the Admiral Kuznetsov (NATO reporting name: Kuznetsov-class) aircraft carrier have been unable to learn full-fledged combat employment lessons from the military operation in Syria, expert Sergei Ishchenko writes in an article published by the Svobodnaya Pressa online news agency. A week has passed since Russian carrier-borne aircraft joined the fighting in the Syrian provinces of Idlib and Homs. The intermediate results produced by the Admiral Kuznetsov’s carrier air wing have been not what the top brass expected dispatching the huge ship and her impressive strike group to the Mediterranean...

A combination of faults on Russia’s carrier and an unexpected total engine shutdown led to a Russian pilot ditching his fighter in the Mediterranean Sea last week, read a translation of a Monday Russian press report. The Mikoyan MiG-29K that crashed on Nov. 13 was part of a trio of fighters sortied from Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov for operations over Syria, USNI News reported last week. Following the mission – armed reconnaissance runs over targets near Aleppo, USNI News understands — the fighters headed back to the carrier to land, read a translation of a report from Gazeta.ru. “Upon completion...

A fighter assigned to the Russian carrier operating in the Eastern Mediterranean crashed during a landing approach on Sunday, a U.S. defense official confirmed to USNI News on Monday. The Mikoyan MiG-29K was part of a trio of MiGs that had sortied from Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov headed over Syria. At one point, for unknown reasons, one of the fighters turned back to the carrier and crashed while on approach to the carrier, the official said. Russian state media confirmed the crash on Monday afternoon. “An aviation accident with carrier-based fighter MIG-29K occurred during exercise flights as a result of...

During the Cold War, Russia’s navy prioritized moving huge numbers of cruise missiles around the globe, threatening the power-projection capabilities of American Carrier Battle Groups. In the 1950s and 1960s, aircraft carriers were seen by Soviet military elites as imperialist tools of aggression, and any initiative by the USSR to build one of their own was shot down by the powers that be. Eventually this began to change, but only gradually. The Kiev class that was launched in the 1970s was a puzzling cross-breed compromise between a heavy missile cruiser and a helicopter and VTOL (Yak-38) tactical jet carrier. Eventually...

The last time Russia’s sole aircraft carrier sailed into the Mediterranean Sea, five years ago, the U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet kept a close eye on its progress. The concern among American officers wasn’t the ship’s contingent of fighter planes; instead, it was the very real worry it would sink and necessitate a potentially risky rescue operation. The 26-year-old Admiral Kuznetsov made it through that 2011 deployment without sinking and is now headed back to the eastern Mediterranean this fall as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s effort to use Syria as a showcase for his new model military. But the...

MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. The deck aircraft of the Admiral Kuznetsov carrier will participate in delivering strikes against militants in Syria from an eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea in October 2016 - January 2017, a military-diplomatic source in Moscow told TASS on Saturday. "The General Staff has prepared a plan for involvement of the deck aircraft in delivering strikes on terrorist groups in the Syrian Arab Republic, where the crews will practice taking off the carrier to deliver strikes on ground targets." Thus, the source said, in autumn-winter, the strikes will be delivered both by the crews located at...

The Russian Navy’s sole aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is set to deploy to the Mediterranean Sea with a new air wing configuration. Instead of just the Sukhoi Su-33, Kuznetsov will deploy with a mixed air group with comprised of Flanker-Ds, Su-25UTG Frogfoots and the new Mikoyan MiG-29K Fulcrum-D. “According to plans of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, the Admiral Kuznetsov in September-October will enter the Mediterranean Sea, where it will become a flagship of the Russian Navy's grouping,” a Russian defense ministry source told the TASS News agency. “The aircraft carrier will have on board a mixed...

Russian Navy commander Admiral Viktor Chirkov's claim that Russia will build a new, super-sized aircraft carrier exceeding 85,000 tonnes has been met with scepticism by analysts. Many have questioned how realistic this ambition might be, given the current limitations of Russia's shipbuilding industry in particular and defence industry in general. The proposed supercarrier, announced by Adm Chirkov on 23 March, would be a quantum leap in capability and size over the Russian Navy's single existing carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov , which at 43,000 tonnes is less than half the displacement of the US Navy's Nimitz-class carriers. The new ship, which would...

Destroyer keeps watch on Russian carrier 14 December 2011 | Royal Navy destroyer has rushed to intercept a flotilla of Russian ships off Scotland in a return to Cold War tensions. The battlegroup, headed by aircraft carrier the Admiral Kuznetsov, is understood to have sought shelter from a storm in the Firth of Moray. The Admiral Kuznetsov is en route to Syria, in a show of Russian support for the country’s under-fire regime. Along with destroyer escort she has diverted toward the Scottish coast, apparently to take shelter from North Sea storms. At 65,000 tons the Admiral Kuznetsov is roughly...

Russia sends aircraft carrier to Lebanon, Syria 2011-11-28 In December a vessel group led by the Northern Fleet’s aircraft carrier “Admiral Kuznetsov” will sail to the Mediterranean and the Russian naval base of Tartus in Syria. The mission has nothing to do with the deadly violence in Syria between forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and the opposition, a naval spokesman told Izvestia. - This was planned already in 2010 when there were no such events there. There has been active preparation and there is no need to cancel this, the spokesman said, adding that "Admiral Kuznetsov" will also visit...

Aircraft carrier pilot: One day of life November 18, 2011 Vladimir Ruvinsky For the first time in 17 years, a young pilot took part in the exercises in the Barents Sea involving the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. An RIR correspondent was on board to talk to the naval fighter pilots. the 25-tonne machine has to land on a 36-metre landing strip; you have to touch the strip at a certain angle and at a certain speed. Source: ITAR-TASS “My wife will give me my marching orders soon”, naval pilot Stanislav Avdin says jokingly when asked about his service. “I leave...

Russian air carrier to rejoin Navy by end of 2006 16:16 | 27/ 09/ 2006 MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia's only aircraft carrier, will join the Northern Fleet by the end of the year after modernization, the Navy's chief said Wednesday. The ship, also known as Project 1143.5 heavy aircraft carrier, was commissioned in the Russian Navy in 1991 and became fully operational in 1995. But it was plagued by technical problems, including faulty arrester gear, and was put into dock earlier this year for a technical overhaul. "All preparatory work has been completed on...