Down for the Count? Russia’s Admiral Kuznetzov Carrier Is a Failure & Disaster

by Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

Admiral Kuznetzov:  Russia’s lone aircraft carrier has been “dry docked” for maintenance and repairs for the past several years.

Yet the carrier’s maintenance and performance problems throughout its history might lead some to question whether the decades-old ship should return to service.

Admiral Kuznetzov: Aging Technologies

The ski-jump-like flagship of the Russian Navy made its first deployment as far back as 1995 with a capacity for 13 Su-33s and 11 helicopters, yet it did not support combat operations until 2016 when it launched Su-33 strikes against Islamic State terrorist groups in Syria.

However, during this engagement, a Russian carrier-launched Su-33 crashed into the ocean due to what was later discovered to be an arresting gear failure.

Along with its limited combat history, Russia’s Admiral Kuznetzov has not had a large number of deployments and does not seem to have advanced Russian interests in projecting global power. While Russia is known for its sophisticated and highly-dangerous submarine fleet, the country does not have much of a threatening surface Navy and simply does not project global power from the sea.

Russia’s carrier limitations have other dimensions, such as a lack of 5th-generation air capability. With the Su-57 operating as a land-based 5th-gen stealth aircraft, Russia currently has no equivalent to the US Navy F-35C or Marine Corps F-35B.

This certainly limits any ability to truly project air power against adversaries with advanced or capable air defenses, a circumstance which limits the carrier to supporting sea-launched air attacks over uncontested airspace.