Why Russia's Only Aircraft Carrier Sucks

Russia's only aircraft carrier is a huge disaster. Named the "Admiral Kuznetsov", it has been dubbed "the unluckiest ship in the world", and spends more time in repair docks than at sea. Even though it's the flagship of the Russian Navy, the Kuznetsov has only ever had four frontline deployments, all of them in the Mediterranean and only for a few months at a time. But despite this light service record, the Kuznetsov is old: its construction actually began all the way back in 1981. The USSR had been attempting to build carriers since the height of the Cold War in the 1960s, but the best they managed with their early attempts were smaller "Kiev" class cruisers, able to old only helicopters, greatly diminishing their power in case of a full-blown conflict with their American counterparts.

Plans for the Admiral Kuznetsov began when Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Ustinov visited one of the Kiev class ships and realized how ineffective it would be against the United States. His solution? Design and build a class of Soviet vessels capable of launching fighter jets, which he believed could counter the US's growing naval supremacy. But perhaps foreshadowing its future troubles, the Admiral Kuznetsov's completing was delayed time and time again. Since the start of the project it was renamed three times in ten years, going from the "Riga" to "Leonid Brezhnev" to "Tbilisi", before finally assuming its current name, "Admiral Kuznetsov", in 1990. Because of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the ensuing chaos, it didn't even become operational until 1996.

The Kuznetsov's luck hasn't gotten much better since, breaking down many times over the years and requiring repair after repair just to stay floating. But even these attempts at fixing its flaws haven't been fruitful, as the Kuznetsov is once again under maintenance, supposedly until 2024. So what's wrong with this seemingly cursed vessel? And why has the once second best military superpower not managed to get this vital piece of naval equipment working yet? From the beginning, the Kuznetsov's design was one of its biggest issues. It was never built to be a true aircraft carrier, but a "hybrid missile cruiser", meant to prioritize both missiles and fighter jets. This designation was also politically important: under the terms of the 1936 Montreux Convention, cruiser ships were allowed to pass through the Turkish Straits connecting the Mediterranean and Black Sea, but foreign aircraft carriers are not.

Yet as a result of how it was built, the Kuznetsov holds relatively few jets compared with other countries' aircraft carriers, mostly due the Soviets trying to keep it classed as a hybrid missile cruiser. This isn't helped by its comparatively small size. With a displacement of 58,000 tons and a length of 304 meters, the Kuznetsov is dwarfed by US Nimitz-class carriers, which can be more than two times as big, weighing in at over 100,000 tons. Also, unlike US supercarriers, it isn't nuclear-powered. Instead it burns a heavy, low quality fuel oil called Mazut. Mazut must be specially preheated and pressurized, something often not done on board the Admiral Kuznetsov. Failure to properly treat the fuel can cause a long trail of putrid, sulfur-filled black smoke. This smoke, now mockingly considered a hallmark of the Kuznetsov, can be seen for miles and poses a serious health risk to the crew on board and anyone unfortunate enough to be in its path. Another big problem has to do with the carrier's flight deck. Instead of the more common "aircraft catapult" system, it uses an outdated "ski-jump" model, with an upward-sloping takeoff runway. This forces aircraft to use their afterburners when lifting off, and means that Russia's most modern fighter jets can't even use the carrier, further limiting its use. Besides lost utility, the Kuznetsov's design flaws also mean that it breaks down constantly.

These breakdowns have happened for decades, sometimes claiming the lives of soldiers. From 2000 to 2008, many military exercises that included the aircraft carrier were scrapped because of issues with its engine. These embarrassments happened so often that a tugboat began accompanying the Kuznetsov on every voyage just in case it breaks down again, a practice that continues today. The longstanding engine issues also mean that it can only be deployed for a paltry 45 days at a time, which pales in comparison with the six-month deployments of US carriers. It's not just the engines either, the aircraft carrier is plagued by many other problems as well. In 2005, a fighter jet fell off the carrier into the Atlantic Ocean while landing due to a faulty arresting wire. Then in 2009, an electrical short circuit caused a fire below deck, leading to the death of a crew member from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The same year a leak in its hull spilled over 300 metric tons of oil off the coast of Ireland, nearly causing an environmental catastrophe. More financial and technical problems plagued the Kuznetsov from 2010 to 2015, even as it had a mid-life retrofit, meant to keep it in service for years to come. The only time the carrier saw actual combat was during Russia's intervention in the Syrian Civil War in 2016. But even that went terribly wrong, as the Kuznetsov lost two more fighter jets due to faulty arresting wires and a botched rescue attempt. The rest of the planes on board then had to be transferred to a land base in Syria, completely defeating the purpose of the aircraft carrier. The situation was so embarrassing that the British Defense Secretary referred to it as "a ship of shame." But this wasn't the end of the Kuznetsov's curse. In 2018 it was undergoing even more repairs at Russia's largest floating dry dock, named PD-50, located in the northwest of Russia in a city called Roslyakovo.

But in a mysterious accident the dock sank, causing one of its 70-ton cranes to crash into the Kuznetsov's flight deck. The incident led to several injuries and left a gaping 200 square-foot hole in the ship. Russia was forced to combine two smaller dry docks to continue repairs, and it took nearly three months to remove the fallen crane. The ship's issues got even worse in 2019. WHile docked in Murmansk, a welding accident caused yet another fire in the engine room, as sparks hit an oily piece of cloth. The fire burned 600 square meters of the ship and took over twenty hours to put out. It was also deadly, killing two crew members, injuring fourteen more, and causing an astonishing 1.5 billion dollars in damages. Due to this series of disasters, the Admiral Kuznetsov has been under repair continuously since 2018. But it's not just terrible accidents that sailors have to watch out for, daily life on board the Admiral Kuznetsov sucks too.

Because of its many technical issues and a serious lack of daily maintenance, just being onboard the ship is its own health hazard. The boilers are as bad as the engines, so there's no heating while the vessel is at sea. And the ventilation system is only 60% effective, allowing toxic diesel fumes to waft around the cabins, slowly poisoning the sailors on board. Reportedly, the crew of the Admiral Kuznetsov have had to seal off whole sections below deck which are filled with smog or mildew. Unsurprisingly, the carrier's pipes are also a mess: if it sails into extreme cold, the water in them begins to freeze and cause ruptures. Their solution? Just cut off the water. During the winter months, over 60% of the Kuznetsov's cabins can be left without running water to stop the pipes from exploding, an oddly low tech solution for such a high tech piece of military gear. Disgustingly, the situation with the latrines is just as bad, with more than half of the 50 toilets on board being closed during winter.

Summers aren't much better. Because of overheating in the pipes and boilers, the water and latrines are sometimes also cut off during the hottest pars of the year, leaving the Admiral Kuznetsov's 1900 crew members to suffer in almost constant discomfort. The lack of usable latrines is also a huge waste of time. Those who served on board have claimed they spent nearly six hours a day in formation just to use the bathroom. To make things even worse, the cafeteria on board can only service 150 people at a time, and food is often of poor quality or spoiled. In fact, service on the ship is so dreaded that Russian sailors have actually coined the phrase "If you misbehave, you'll be sent to the Kuznetsov." Overall, it seems servicemen on the Admiral Kuznetsov are not having a good time. But who, or what, is to blame for the accidents and horrible conditions on board? And how does Russia have a naval flagship that can barely make it out to sea?

While some of the Admiral Kuznetsov's mishaps can certainly be chalked up to bad luck or old age, many of them come down to lack of resources or training. Russian shipbuilding is notoriously poor, as Putin focused on upgrading other elements of his military while ignoring the navy. The Kuznetsov and other ships are all based on old Soviet designs, and domestically manufactured parts are not always available or reliable. Russia therefore depends on other countries to supply it with these components and often buys them in less than stellar condition. And because the Admiral Kuznetsov is Russia's only aircraft carrier, naval aviation and engineering skills are also very limited among the Russian military.

This lack of serious training can almost certainly be blamed for some of the ship's catastrophes. Corruption has played a part in the Kuznetsov's misfortune as well: last year, the director of the shipyard overseeing its most recent repairs was arrested and charged with stealing more than 45 million rubles from the project, unsurprising given the recent news on corruption within the Russian army. All things considered, some might wonder why Russia doesn't just scrap the cursed ship and move on. The main answer seems to be necessity. While several plans for a new flagship have been put forward, Putin simply can't afford to get rid of the Kuznetsov and build a new one from scratch. But because of its disasters, the ship has been sitting uselessly in port since 2018, continuously siphoning money from the government for repairs. This also meant that when Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, he was completely unable to use his country's only aircraft carrier.

The war's spillover effects could also delay the carrier's return to service even longer, as sanctions might make the planned repairs unfeasible. And even if the Kuznetsov is put back into service, there's no guarantee it can be effectively maintained, as many of Russia's best engineers have now fled the country to avoid war. Instead, the seemingly endless repairs of the carrier will continue, until it's deemed seaworthy once again and paraded out to try and project a semblance of Russian naval power. Given the stories we've heard about the carrier's quality, we doubt it will be able to project much power. So while the Admiral Kuznetsov may be the world's unluckiest ship, and although luck has played a role in its fate, some of the blame can be put on those in charge of the project. From plane crashes to oil spills, to fires and inhumane living conditions, Russia's only aircraft carrier definitely sucks - and it's got the government to blame.

By: Tannor Cannon | Dec 13, 2022

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