Summary and key points you need to know: Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, is widely considered a national embarrassment, plagued by technical problems, accidents and frequent breakdowns. Originally commissioned in 1991, the carrier was intended to showcase Soviet naval power, but has since become a symbol of Russia’s declining military capabilities.

– Despite the numerous problems, Russia continues to invest in the carrier, probably out of national pride and the desire to maintain the carrier’s operational capability.

– However, many analysts believe that the ship is beyond salvage and that Russia would be better off investing in a new generation of aircraft carriers.

Why Russia is holding on to its problematic aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov

Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the smoke-spewing one, is broken Admiral Kuznetsov, is described by the Russian Navy as a “heavy aircraft carrier cruiser.” That may sound impressive, but it isn’t. Admiral Kuznetsov is a continuing embarrassment for the proud Russian military.

The only reason one can assume that the Russians want to maintain this national embarrassment is to train crews for the future, supposedly better aircraft carrier fleet, the construction of which Moscow has been planning since 2017.

Still, the carrier is a smoldering embarrassment that any other nation would have scrapped years ago. Admiral Kuznetsov was more of an experiment than anything else – one undertaken at a time when the Soviet government was on its way to the dustbin of history.

A brief history of Admiral Kuznetsov

The keel was laid in 1982 and the ship was commissioned in 1991, the same year that the USSR collapsed. Admiral Kuznetsov was a product of the Soviet Union’s ambitions to expand its navy. The carrier was intended to demonstrate Soviet air power and provide a strategic advantage in any potential conflict.

But from the very beginning of this project, Moscow had to make compromises – if not for budgetary or technological reasons, then for reasons of strategic disinformation. For example, the ship was explicitly classified as a “heavy aircraft carrier cruiser” to circumvent international rules. Russia is a largely landlocked state. It has only four warm-water ports, of which perhaps the most important, the Sevastopol naval base in Crimea, is on the Black Sea. Since Turkey controls Russia’s access to the Black Sea, Moscow must abide by Turkish rules.

One of Turkey’s rules is to deny access to aircraft carriers in the Black Sea in accordance with the Montreux Convention. With a displacement of almost 62,000 tons Admiral Kuznetsov is the largest warship Russia has ever built. But it can also pass through the Turkish Strait because it meets the exact requirements of the Montreux Convention.

Admiral Kuznetsov has a sloped flight deck in the form of a ski jump that allows conventional takeoffs and landings of its naval aircraft, including Su-33 and MiG-29K fighters. Of course, the ski jump is very limiting, which is why the United States prefers to launch its aircraft into the air using catapults. The Soviets and later the Russians simply lacked the technical skills or financial means to replicate such facilities on this carrier model.

The carrier itself has been plagued by technical problems, accidents and maintenance issues during its more than 30 years of service to Russia. These problems have severely limited the carrier’s usefulness to Russia and ensured that Admiral Kuznetsov are little more than sunk costs for the Russian Navy.

Russia’s love affair with a failed aircraft carrier

Russia’s decision to support the ageing Kuznetsov can be attributed to national pride as well as fear of a capability gap. Russia is already behind the Americans and now the Chinese when it comes to carrier operations. Should Moscow abandon the ailing Admiral Kuznetsov If they are decommissioned, this could mean a lost generation of carrier capacity for their navy.

On the other hand, the unusable carrier spends most of its time in the shipyard, which raises the question of whether these capabilities are already lost to Russia. The money could be better invested in building a new generation of decent carriers.

As if Moscow can’t let up, it is apparently investing to extend the life of this failed aircraft carrier by another 25 years. The modernization efforts include improvements to the carrier’s air defense systems, propulsion and flight deck, among others.

Despite their claim that the carrier is being modernized, there are many indications that the carrier is dead and cannot be modernized. Regardless of the speculation on the Internet and among analysts, Admiral Kuznetsov is an objectively terrible flattop that should have been scrapped 30 years ago.

Author’s experience and expertise: Brandon J. Weichert

Brandon J. Weichert, a national security analyst for the National Interest, is a former congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor to The Washington Times, The Asia Times, and The Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, will be published by Encounter Books on October 22. Weichert can be followed on Twitter. @WeTheBrandon.

All images are Creative Commons or Shutterstock. All photos are in different submarine styles.

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