TAVKR "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov" - the only active heavy cruiser aircraft carrier in the modern Navy of the Russian Federation. Its main purpose is the elimination of massive surface targets, the defense of marine fleets and the protection against the invasion of the alleged enemy. The ship was named in honor of N. G. Kuznetsov, Admiral of the Navy of the USSR. The construction of the cruiser took place in Nikolaev, at a shipyard in Chernomorsk, now it is included in the package of the Northern Fleet. MIG-29K aircraft, Su-25, Su-33 groups and helicopters of the Ka-27/29 / 52K modifications are capable of being based on the vessel.
Design
The design of the Admiral Kuznetsov Tavkr started in 1978 under the supervision of the Design Bureau from Leningrad.
There are several design developments that eventually resulted in the construction of ships or remained in the form of layouts and sketches:
- Project 1153. The displacement of the planned ship is designed for 70 00 tons, it was supposed to be equipped with powerful weapons (except for the main aviation group).
- No. 1143 M. The plans were to place the Yak-41 supersonic fighter with vertical take-off on the cruiser.
- Prototype 1143 A. It is similar to the aircraft carrier of the previous development, but with a large displacement (the fourth aircraft carrier built in the Union).
- TAVKR project 1143.5 "Admiral Kuznetsov" - a high-powered, fifth and last Soviet aircraft carrier built.
The final technical documentation was ready by mid-1980. Presumably, the construction was supposed to be completed in 1990. However, the deadlines for commissioning and commissioning were constantly shifted for various reasons.
Start of creation
In the early spring of 1981, the shipbuilding plant in Nikolaev received a long-drawn-out order for the construction of a new cruiser. True, in the autumn of the same year, significant amendments and changes were made to the project, the main of which was an increase in the ship's displacement by 10 thousand tons.
The total value of this indicator was 67, 000 tons. In addition, the following structural adjustments were made:
- The ship’s side needed to be equipped with the Granit anti-ship missile launcher.
- There was a need to expand the aviation group to 50 cars.
- A significant change was that the launch of the aircraft was to be carried out without a catapult, through a springboard takeoff. This prospectively reduced the cost of construction and further contributed to the extension of the technical resource of the aircraft carrier.
Finishing improvements
TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" was finally modeled only in 1982. It happened in September at the shipyards of the city of Nikolaev. Initially, the ship was called "Riga", after a couple of months it was renamed "Leonid Brezhnev." By the end of the year, the cruiser was in full swing installation of the first structural unit. The ship itself (for the first time in the history of the USSR) consisted entirely of two dozen block designs.
In length, each TAVKR block of pr. 11435 “Admiral Kuznetsov” had about 32 meters at a height of 13 m. The mass of each element was 1.5-1.7 thousand tons. Add-ons of the huge aircraft carrier are also created on a block system. It is worth noting that such a ship, with the appropriate supply of materials, instruments and other equipment, could be built literally in four years, which would be an absolute record. However, delays with suppliers and the slow operation of factories caused excessive delays in putting the vessel into operation.
Installation of airborne equipment
The aircraft carrier was lowered from the slipway at the end of 1985. The mass of the hull and installed structures has not yet exceeded 32 thousand tons. The developers rated the readiness of military unit 20506 TAVKR Admiral Kuznetsov at 39%.
The next year for the domestic aircraft carrier was not without changes. The new designer P. Sokolov made his own adjustments, and in the middle of the 87th the ship was still unfinished to the end again renamed. Now it has become Tbilisi. The percentage of readiness increased to 60%. Delays from suppliers did not allow to complete the construction quickly; 70% readiness was reached only by the end of 1989.
The cost of TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" at that time amounted to more than seven hundred million rubles. Soon the chief designer was again replaced, L. Belov became him. The predominant part of the electronic equipment was mounted four and a half years later, the ship's readiness was 80%.
Camping trip
This event happened on October 20, 1989. At that time, the aircraft carrier was almost ready, except for the absence of an aviation group. The maneuvers lasted more than a month, already on the first of November of the same year a test landing of the MiG-29 and Su-27 was carried out.
Fully ammunition and radio systems on the military unit 20506 TAVKR Admiral Kuznetsov were installed only in 1990 (overall readiness was about 90%). In the same time period, sea trials of the vessel were carried out. In mid-autumn, the ship received the final name, under which it goes now.
At the first stage of testing, the aircraft carrier independently mastered more than 16 thousand miles. From the runways of the ship, the aircraft made almost five hundred sorties. All landings on the cruiser dispensed without emergency, which is an excellent result for launch trials of vessels.
The first tests were completed in late 1990. More than a year passed the final stage of state acceptance, after which the ship was assigned to the Northern Fleet.
Technical features
Special fairings are mounted in the deck and on the bow. Operating aircraft are delivered to the deck of the aircraft carrier by means of elevators, each of which can overpower 40 tons. The deck is 67 meters wide. In length, the cruiser is almost 305 meters, its draft is 10.5 m.
For the purpose of landing aircraft used part of the deck with a length of 250 and a width of 26 meters. It has a slope of seven degrees. A pair of main launching strips is provided.
The engines at the Admiral Kuznetsov Tavkr are four-shaft turboturbine engines with powerful turbo and diesel generators. Four propellers act as a mover (each has 5 blades). The maximum speed is 29 knots (55 km / h). In autonomous navigation, the cruiser can spend up to one and a half months. The crew is almost two thousand people.
Armament
The following are combat calculations and capabilities of an aircraft carrier:
- Navigation system - "Beysur".
- Radar - “Mars-Passat”, “Frigate-MA”, “Tackle”, “Vaigach”.
- Radio-electronic means - BIUS “Lumberjack”, State Joint-Stock Company “Polinom”, “Star”, complex “Buran-2”, “Constellation - BR”;
- Anti-aircraft ammunition - 6 × 6 AK-630 (48 thousand supplies);
- Missiles - PU PKRK "Granite", "Dagger", "Dagger";
- Anti-submarine weapons (60 bombs) - RBU-12000;
- Aviation group - fifty units (helicopters and airplanes).
Scale
To understand the greatness of the cruiser, it can be noted that its height is comparable to a 27-storey building. Almost four thousand rooms for various purposes are equipped inside. During the construction, 4 thousand kilometers of cable, 12 thousand kilometers of pipes of different diameters and functionality were spent. There are fifty shower rooms on the ship. The closed hangar (153 * 26 * 7.2 meters) holds 70 percent of the full-time aviation group. Underwater structural protection consists of armored and longitudinal partitions, its depth is about five meters.
