The problematic carrier
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Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, is notorious for its numerous operational issues, including engine failures, costly repairs, deadly fires, and persistent black smoke emissions. Powered by Mazut, a heavy, tar-like bunker fuel, the Kuznetsov struggles with inefficient combustion due to low-quality piping and boiler systems.
What You Need to Know: Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, is notorious for its numerous operational issues, including engine failures, costly repairs, deadly fires, and persistent black smoke emissions. Powered by Mazut, a heavy, tar-like bunker fuel, the Kuznetsov struggles with inefficient combustion due to low-quality piping and boiler systems.
-This leads to frequent boiler breakdowns, reducing the ship’s speed to a sluggish 4 knots and necessitating tugboat assistance, as seen in the 2012 incident near Syria. Despite these flaws, Russian officials downplay the problems, attributing the black smoke to maritime tradition.
Four knots?
A Gerald Ford class carrier can cruise at more than 30 knots.
How much more is classified.
This is what a Nimitz-class carrier looks like making a sharp turn. Remember this thing is a quarter of a mile long.
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I find it interesting that Russia (and China) have such small carrier fleets - if you can count one ship as a "fleet."
Granted, they can be vulnerable, but there's no better way to project power.
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I find it interesting that Russia (and China) have such small carrier fleets - if you can count one ship as a "fleet."
Granted, they can be vulnerable, but there's no better way to project power.
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Originally the Moskva was to be a carrier, was then redesigned and built as a missile cruiser. When deployed into combat The Ukrainians reconfigured it once more. It ended its service as a submarine.
@Renauda said in The problematic carrier:
Originally the Moskva was to be a carrier, was redesigned and built as missile cruiser. When deployed into combat The Ukrainians reconfigured it once more. It ended its service as a submarine.
I wondered where you were going with that.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@Mik said in The problematic carrier:
I didn’t.
I guess I’m just a little quicker.
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@Renauda said in The problematic carrier:
Originally the Moskva was to be a carrier, was redesigned and built as missile cruiser. When deployed into combat The Ukrainians reconfigured it once more. It ended its service as a submarine.
I wondered where you were going with that.
Seriously though first Russia then the USSR always aspired to having a real blue water navy. In the case of Russia its dream was sunk by the Japanese Imperial Navy in May 1905 at the battle of Tsushima Strait . Imperial Russia never recovered its loss. Up to 1945 the Soviets could only manage to build a coastal defence Navy for the Baltic and Black seas, the immediate western Arctic and Far East Pacific regions. In the Cold War their naval doctrine focused on more on a forward projecting submarine fleet than surface navy. It remained such until the 1970’s when consideration was given to making a blue water navy. It never really materialized and the surface fleet has remained to this day essentially a coastal defence force with very limited power projection capability.
