Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!uunet!lll-winken!sun-barr!newstop!exodus!appserv!sun!amdcad!amdcad!military From: budden@trout.nosc.mil (Rex A. Buddenberg) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Soviet use of "Aircraft Carrier" title Message-ID: <1991Jun6.063358.5961@amd.com> Date: 3 Jun 91 02:13:47 GMT References: <1991Jun1.012523.27313@amd.com> Sender: military@amd.com Organization: Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego Lines: 36 Approved: military@amd.com From: budden@trout.nosc.mil (Rex A. Buddenberg) The treaty is the Montreux Convention of (I believe) 1937. Aimed at limiting the transit of 'capital ships' through the Bosphorus. At the time, the Soviets agreed because it kept British battleships which was more important than keeping UR BBs (they didn't have any) in. As the Soviet Navy started growing, particularly after 1962, the negative side of the Convention started to appear to the Soviets. In 1937, 'capital ship' referred only to battleships but the definition came to apply to aircraft carriers in the US and UK context (strike mission). But the Soviets have doctrinally contended that a good share of their surface navy is there to protect the submarine fleet. Gorschkov made the point clear many times that the Germans screwed up by not providing any protection to their submarines (Hitler's promise to Raeder that Germany wouldn't go to war prior to 1945 is a germane but different story). So the Moskva and Kiev class 'carriers' are equipped for the submarine defense role. Which includes keeping P-3s, and other of our ASW assets from getting too pesky. And the Soviet surface fleet is equipped for ASW because they recognize that the biggest threat to their submarines are our submarines. Moskva's carried ASW helicopters; Kiev's have that and V/STOL (Forger) aircraft. No air superiority or strike aircraft to speak of. Consequently, all carriers in the Soviet navy has been designated as ASW cruisers. While it looks like an artifice to avoid challenging Montreaux directly, it is really quite legitimate in Soviet naval doctrine. Amiral Kusnetzov (sp?, renamed Tbilisi, renamed Breznev) is significantly different in that it can handle more conventional aircraft, but I don't believe the designation has changed.