Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!spool.mu.edu!olivea!uunet!lll-winken!sun-barr!newstop!sun!amdcad!amdcad!military From: swilliam@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Steve Williams) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: USSR Carriers Message-ID: <1991Jun12.012744.25685@amd.com> Date: 10 Jun 91 12:06:03 GMT Article-I.D.: amd.1991Jun12.012744.25685 References: <1991Jun10.022944.11392@amd.com> Sender: military@amd.com Organization: David Taylor Research Center, Bethesda, MD Lines: 55 Approved: military@amd.com From: swilliam@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Steve Williams) cpjrc@groper.jcu.edu.au (Jarrod R Camp) writes: > A friend has just told me about a new Russian carrier which carries Su-27's, >and dosen't use a catapult, but a large ski-ramp! Apparently 3 more are >planned for the future. Could someone out there provide a bit more info on >this subject? New carrier class: First of a new class of three or four Russian aircraft carriers of 75,000 tons, laid down at Nikolayev South in December 1988. Designated BLKCON 5 by NATO and possibly to be named Ulyanovsk. According to a Soviet Admiral it is to have catapults for Flanker aircraft but will not be nuclear powered. May be in service in 1996. TBILISI class carriers: Name Laid Down Launched Commissioned ---------------------------- --------- ----------- ------------ TBILISI (ex-Leonid Brezhnev) Jan 1983 5 Dec 1985 1990 RIGA Dec 1985 28 Nov 1988 1992 Displacement, tons: 67,000 full load Dimensions, feet: 990.8 oa; 918.6 wl x 226.4 x 36.1 Flight deck, feet: 990.8 x 196.9 Main machinery: Combined steam and gas turbines; 270,000 hp approx.; 4 shafts Speed, knots: 32 Complement: 2100 including aircrew Fixed wing aircraft: 12 Su-27B2 'Flanker'; 12 MiG-29 'Fulcrum' or 12 Su-25 'Frogfoot' Helicopters: 15-18 Ka-27 'Helix' Structure: The hanger is approximately 610 x 98 x 25 ft. There are two starboard side lifts and a centre-line lift, a ski-jump of about 12 degrees and an angled deck. There are four arrester wires. Opinion: This design is part of a natural progression in naval aviation development from a helicopter carrier to full fixed-wing capabilities, including catapults, which may be fitted in the second of the class. Attempts to assign a specific role, such as extended air defense of the home base, are depressingly naive. Once the composition of the air wing has been established, naval air power projection out of range of Soviet shore-based airfields will become one of many available options. There are also 3 KIEV class "aircraft carriers" and 1 modified KIEV class "aircraft carrier." The KIEV class ships were originally classified as antisubmarine cruisers, but are now classified as tactical aircraft- carrying cruiser. The fourth member has sufficient modifications to justify a separate class. Source: Jane's Fighting Ships 1990-91