1143.5 Kuznetsov / Kreml class

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NOR  1 * where available CG Ticonderoga 22 CV Kuznetsov 1 BCGN Kirov 1 CG Slava 3 CG Kara 1

D. (tons): 43,000 tons light
53,000-55,000 tons standard
66,600-67,500 tons full load
Draft, m:
standard (46 540 t): 8,05
normal (53 050 t): 8,97
full (59 100 t): 9,76
Max, m: 10,4
Hangar dimensions, m 153 x 26 x 7,2
Flight deck, m 305 õ 70
Height from kiel to highest point (antenna) , m 64,49
M: 4GTZA TV-12-4, 4 shafts
Total: 200 000 hp
Fuel (fuel oil), t 9918,5
Diesel, t 293
a/c fuel, t 2500
Speed, knots:
max 29
cruise economy 18
economy 14
Endurance, miles/knots:
3850/29
7680/18
8417/14
Endurance, days 45
Dimensions (m): 302.3-306.45 meters long overall
270.0-281.0 meters long at waterline
35.4-38.0 meters beam
72.0-73.0 meters width overall
M./Engine: 2 x 50'000 hp gas. turbines; 8 boilers; 4 shafts, 4 fixed pitch props., turbogenerators 9 x 1500 kW, diesel gen. 6 x 1500 kW; Total: 200 000 hp
Man./Crew: 1980 (520 officers, 1360)
3857 rooms
Armament: 20 Su-27K Flanker D
4 Su-25 UTG Frogfoot
4 /Helicopter KA-27LD32
18/KA-27PLO
2/KA-27S
12 Granit (SS-N-19; range- 420 km)
SA Klinok ADAM system (24 launchers, 192 vertical launch missiles; range: 15 km, rate of fire: 1 missile per 3 sec)

SA Kashtan ADGM system (256 AD missiles, 48'000 cartiges; range: 0.5- 1.5 km)
8 x 6 AK-630 gattl. AA
(6x30 mm; 6'000 rds/m/mount, 24000 cartiges)
UDAV-1 ASW RL (60 rockets; R: 3'000 m)
Electronics: sensors: air and surface target acquisition radar, a low-flying target acquisition radar , a flight control radar, a navigation radar, and four fire control radars for the Kashstan Air Defence Gun/Missile System;
sonars:search and attack sonar, operating in the medium and low frequency bands, surface search radar, dipping sonar, sonobuouys and magnetic anomaly detectors.
Combat Information Centre, an Aviation Combat Information Centre and a fighter aircraft guidance system (Rezistor-K4, Gazon), navigation system and a communications suite including satellite communications
Radars: Air and surface target acquisition radar ;low-flying target acquisition radar;Flight control radar; Navigation radar; 4 gun-missile fire control radars .
Mars-Passat, MR-175 Fregat-MA,
2 MR-350 Podkat, 3 Vaigach.

The flight deck area is 14,700 square meters and aircraft take-off is assisted by a bow ski- jump angled at 12 degrees in lieu of steam catapults. The flight deck is equipped with arrester wires. Two starboard lifts carry the aircraft from the hangar to the flight deck. The ship has the capacity to support 16 Yakovlev Yak-41M (Freestyle) and 12 Sukhoi Su-27K (Flanker) fixed wing aircraft and a range of helicopters including four Kamov Ka-27-LD (Helix), 18 Kamov Ka-27 PLO, and two Ka-27-S. The ship has a Granit anti-ship missile system equipped with 12 surface to surface missile launchers. The air defence gun and missile system includes the Klinok air defence missile system with 24 vertical launchers and 192 anti-air missiles. The system defends the ship against anti-ship missiles, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and surface ships. The ship is equipped with an Udav-1 integrated anti-submarine system with 60 anti-submarine rockets.

The ship has a Granit anti-ship missile system equipped with 12 surface to surface missile launchers. The Granit missile (NATO codename SS-N-19 Shipwreck) is reported to have a range greater than 400 km and is capable of carrying either a nuclear or conventional warhead.

The Klinok air defence missile system, with 24 vertical launchers and 192 missiles, defends the ship against anti-ship missiles, aircraft and surface ships. The system has a multi-channel electronically steered phased array radar and can achieve a firing rate of 1 missile every 3 seconds. Four targets can be engaged simultaneously in a 60 x 60 degree sector. Range of the system is 12 to 15 km.

The Kashstan Air Defence Gun/Missile System, supplied by the Instrument Design Bureau and Tulamashzavod JSC in Tula, provides defence against precision weapons including anti-ship and anti-radar missiles, aircraft and small sea targets. Eight systems are fitted, combining missile launcher, 30 mm twin gun and radar/optronic director. The range of the laser beam-riding missiles is from 1.5 to 8 km. The gun can fire up to 1,000 rounds per minute in the range 0.5 to 1.5 km. Six AK630 AD 30 mm air defence guns are also fitted.

The ship is conventionally powered and has eight boilers and four steam turbines each producing 50,000 horsepower, driving four shafts with fixed pitch propellers. The maximum speed is 29 knots, and the range at maximum speed is 3,800 miles. The ship provides a maximum range of 8,500 miles at a speed of 18 knots.

The 67,500-ton Kreml class aircraft carrier supports strategic missile carrying submarines, surface ships and maritime missile-carrying aircraft of the Russian fleet. The ship is capable of engaging surface, subsurface and airborne targets. Superficially similar to American carriers, the design is in fact "defensive" in support of SSBN bastions. The lack of catapults precludes launching aircraft with heavy strike loads, and the air superiority orientation of the air wing is apparent.

WARFARE.RU translation:

The new Russian aircraft-carrier cruiser architecture became more "aircraft" - with a through flight deck area 14 800 m2, a springboard with an angle of exit 14,3° in a forward part, two onboard 40-t plane elevators on the right board in a forward and a forage from the island 13-level superstructures (height above deck U2.m). The presence of the developed sponsors and the displacement of a superstructure to the right has allowed to increase the width of a flight deck up to 67 m. The landing site of a flight deck (205x26m), including the sponson on the left board, settled down at angle of 7° to deck of a ship.
All surface of a flight deck and springboard had anti-sliding heat-resistant (up to 450°C) covering "Omega", and three flight decks (10x10), intended for vertical landing of the Yak-41, was covered with the best heat-resistant (up to 750°?) plates AK-9FM.

The whole welded case had the height of 7 decks and 2 platforms. The continuous double bottom went on all length of the ship. The basic constructive material of the case, the main water-proof partitions, decks and platforms, sponsons and an island superstructure is steel; for manufacturing the minor shields and partitions the steel and aluminum-magnesian alloys (with fastening to steel designs on bimetallic rods) were used.

The hangar - closed type, with the whole surface 3980 m2 (153x26x7,2), 50 % of length and 70 % of width of the ship - served as a total area for storage and maintenance service up to 70 % of regular number of the flight complex. Tractors, gas-jet ship and fire machines, and also the unified complex of means of special application for deck service of the ac in a marching way were stored in it. Transportation and accommodation of planes were provided with the combined consoles of wings, and helicopters - with the combined blades bearing screws.

On all regular parking lots of the ac in a hangar and on technical positions their mooring and grounding was made. The hangar has been equipped by semi-automatic system of chain transportation of the ac, allowing to refuse to use the tractors and to exclude a gassed condition of internal premises with the exhaust gases. Tractors were required only for operations with the ac on a flight deck, at their submission from a hangar on lifts platforms and back.

For preparation of aviation technics there were posts of maintenance of the ac with the electric power and all the necessary, coolings of an instrument compartment, check and refuelling of their hydrosystems, preliminary adjustment of the inertial vertical line of the ac and its transfers of the information from the ship complexes of navigation and hydrostabilisation in a hangar.

In a fodder part the repair position equipped by cargo devices for performance of works on removal (installation) from helicopters of columns with a reducer and other operations, and also two positions for replacement of blades of the bearing screw of helicopters settled down. With a view of fire-prevention safety the hangar was divided into 4 compartments by fire-resistant harmonious curtains with electromechanical drives.


A surface constructive protection (SCP) was carried out by a principle of shielding, as internal protective barrier composit designs (type steel - fibreglass - steel) served. The basic material of SCP - high-strength steel with a limit of fluidity 60 kgs/mm2. Local box-shaped booking was applied to the protection of fuel tanks and cellars aviation ammunition.

For the first time in USSR practice of the aircraft shipbuilding the underwater constructive protection (UCP) was used for the increase of fighting and operational survivability of the ship. The floodability and explosive fire safety characteristics have been considerably raised. On the results of the numerous scientific research and natural experiments the depth of the onboard UCP has been accepted within the limits of 4,5 - 5 m. Out of three longitudinal partitions the second one was made armoured (on the head ship it was batch, that is multilayered, on the second - monolithic).

The floodability of aircraft carrier was guaranteed in case of flooding of the five adjacent compartments with the general length not less than 20 % of length of the ship. Thus the surface board should have remained on water at height of 1,8 m up to a hangar deck level owing to what the danger of hangar flooding could have been prevented.

To avoid the negative influence of the air streams on a flight deck during the maintaining of the runway operations, by the initiative of the TsNII A.N.Krylov in the forward part of a flight deck (in area of a springboard on boards) and on a building berth special box designs (so-called turbulence promoters), four per a board, have been placed.

However later their efficiency on alignment of an air stream after a model purge in a wind tunnel has not been confirmed by the TsAGI, and in 1988, all the turbulence promoters dismantled before the output of the head ship on flight-design tests. Simultaneously by results of the working off of the take-off operations on "Thread" the form of the top edge of a springboard has been a little bit changed - it have been executed smoother.

But it was found out, that the presence of the small sponsons created the indignations of an air stream above a deck which could affect carrying out of runway operations negatively. Therefore in 1989 on the forward edge of an angular deck and a springboard the profiled cowls have been placed.

Near the springboard base 12 underdeck launchers of cruise missiles of the main missile complex Granit, covered with the armoured covers flush with a flight deck were placed in two rows. To the left and to the right of them, converging in the top point of a springboard, there were two runways beginning at near launching sites #1 and #2 (the start length 90m) with corresponding aeroechnical means.




Further aside the stern and closer to the left board (the start length 180m) the launching site #3 (distant) settled down. It intended for rise VSTOL Yak-141 by the BKP means along an axis of an angular deck. For the protection of the costing on preliminary start ac and the personnel from exhaust jets of the starting fighters the elevating gaz baffling boards (deflektors) with compulsory water cooling served.

Besides them, the launching sites were equipped with the keeping devices (emphasises), sunk on a command of the operator who was being in a half-closed cabin (on one on each position) interfering the premature machine stripping.

At the start the plane was deduced from a springboard on take-off values of a corner of attack due to curvature of a springboard, that essentially reduced the length of start. Before the flight the machine was established on a launching site, the pilot displayed the wings, started the engines and deduced them on take-off (or extreme) mode even prior to the beginning of the start. By the operator command the chassis were released from the keeping device, and the plane began the dispersal with an output on a springboard.

Thus the disengagement speed of the plane made 180 - 200 km/h at length of start 90 - 180 m. After the return from a springboard the machine was deduced on a take-off value of an attack angle and through 2 – 3s was dispersed till the take-off speed.


For the maintenance of landing of high-speed planes on a deck the aerofinishers "Svetlana-2" - four cables tense across a deck located on distance 12m from each other and connected through the blocks with four brake hydraulic machines, intended for clearing kinetic energy, served. In working position cables rose above a deck on the set height for capture by a brake hook of a sitting down plane, providing its full stop in 90 m of run with a longitudinal overload not more than 4,5 d.

The fourth cable, counting the stern, has been combined with an emergency barrier Nadezhda ("Hope"). The cable of the first aerobatsplane was in 40 m from a stern cut. In the middle of the second aerobatsplanes on a deck the white circle with the diameter 17 m was put – it was a recommended landing place of a contact of a plane brake hook to pilots.


The fourth cable, including from kormy, has been combined with an emergency barrier Nadezhda. The cable of the first aerofinishera was in 40 m from a cut kormy. In the middle of the second aerofinishera on a deck the white circle in diameter of 17 m - recommended was put to pilots at landing a place of a contact of a plane brake hook.


The initial deducing of the plane in the ship finding area was carried out by the radiosystem of the near navigation forming a machine flight trajectory with the maintenance of its input in an operative range of optical landing (OSL) "Luna-3" system. For this purpose a flight deck of the ship ha been equipped with the special light indicators helping the pilot to be guided at landing, maintaining a rate and speed on glissade visually up to the contact of a cable of the aerobatsplane with a brake hook. The OSL represented a system of special lanterns with a very small angle of a beam solution.

Having left on landing glideslope, the pilot defined the position of the plane with help of color of the fire of the vertical OSL block observable by him. Green color guaranteed the landing in a settlement point, yellow and orange - accordingly on the first or fourth cable of the aerobatsplave. By observing red fire, the pilot should have corrected the position of the machine and enter into the resolved zone. Red flashing fire meant the necessity of the urgent leaving on the second circle.

The landing on a deck was carried out without alignment traditional for overland machines. The increase or reduction of a plane glideslope inclination angle could lead in the first case to the overflight of 37,5-m of aerobatsplanes zone, and in the second - to the threat to run into a ship stern cut.

In the forward part under a deck the anchor device from two 15-ton anchors with circuits of 81-mm of calibre in length on 460 m (18 commissures, 25,6 m each), with two anchor spikes of type Ya12V was placed, that surely provided the ship parking on depths up to 120 m.

The saving means included one big ship commander boat pr.1404 (from fibreglass), two big working ship boats pr..1402B, two six-oar boats pr YaL-P6 and 240 saving rafts PSN-10M in the containers. The ship boats were placed in niches on 4-th deck on the left board accordingly on 171 - 184-th shp.; 186 - 197-th and 207 - 218-th shp., the boats - on the right board on 220 - 234-th shp., the rafts - in special fastenings along both boards at a level of a flight deck.

The mooring device consisted of three groups: the forward (3-rd deck), average (4-th deck) and fodder (5-th deck). The forward and fodder ones had two complete sets of spikes Sh7D with traction effort 10 t each. All groups were supplied with the steel ropes on the dampers, and the forward and fodder – also with the kapron ropes.

In the average group, besides that, chain mooring were used for mooring to a pier at a wind up to 40 km/s (mooring of the ship provided its statement to a pier with the right board with application of a special pontoon-prorate pr.11121, and mooring of courts of maintenance - a pontoon-prorate pr.11120. Mooring small navigation means was carried out to eyes on boards of the ship (only 8 pieces on each board).

The result of State tests:

The ship has shown good running and maneuverable characteristics: the measured diameter of circulation at the rudders stowage at the maximal angle of 35° has made 18,5 kn. on a speed of a course, about 2,25 lengths, and on 14,5 kn. - 2,1. Thus the roll of the ship was within the limits from 3,2 up to 5,1° (static) and 2 - 3,6° (dynamic). Time from the moment of the machines stop (with a counterpair submission) up to the aircraft carrier stop from a full speed 29,2 kn. has made 34 min. 6 s, the inertia in meters - 5070 m or 18,8 ship lengths.

The same sizes without the counterpair submission were equaled accordingly 42 min, 5280 m and 19,5 ship lengths. The time of a stop from a full backing with the counterferry is 32 min, inertia - 2600 m (9,6 lengths); without counterpair - 36 min, 2730 m (10,1 lengths). At the full speed 29 kn. in the manual control mode the greatest deviation of the ship from a rate has not exceeded 0,2°.