Russia’s decision to scrap the Admiral Kuznetsov is a good strategic move—but an implicit acknowledgement that the carrier has been a disaster for its navy.
Russia’s Navy has seemingly opted to scrap its meddlesome and embarrassing Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, which has been stuck in drydock since 2017. This decision is obviously the correct one.
The Admiral Kuznetsov only survived as long as it did because Russia wanted to maintain a limited aircraft carrier capability. To some extent, this was a matter of national pride—and it justified pouring ever-increasing sums of money into Russian shipyards to keep the decrepit carrier afloat. But the Ukraine War has forced Moscow to prioritize its national defense. And that war, as well general trends in modern warfare, no longer make the aircraft carrier a worthwhile investment.
So the Russians are canceling this nonstop embarrassment. Their national nightmare is long over. America’s, however, is just beginning.
The Admiral Kuznetsov Has Been a Giant Mess for Decades
When it was first built in the 1980s, the Admiral Kuznetsov was envisioned as a great leap forward in the Soviet Navy’s surface warfare capabilities. Moscow envisioned not only threatening America’s carriers with submarines and Kirov-class battlecruisers, but with being able to match those capabilities with carriers of their own.
Too bad for the Russians that the Soviet Union imploded within a year of the Admiral Kuznetsov’s commissioning in 1991. In the wake of that disaster, the post-Soviet government still clung onto the notion that it could be a great naval power by finishing the carrier. But in the lawless and freewheeling post-Cold War years of the Russian Federation, shortcuts were made on the ship’s ongoing construction. When the Admiral Kuznetsov was finally completed, it was the definition of a mess heap.
Today, Admiral Kuznetsov displaces around 60,000 tons when fully loaded. Its length is roughly 1,000 feet, with a beam of around 236 feet. Unlike its American rivals, the Admiral Kuznetsov is not a nuclear-powered ship. It is powered by steam turbines, eight boilers with four shafts, producing around 200,000 horsepower. This boat goes around 33 miles per hour at top speed.
If the Admiral K is experiencing a good day—a rare occurrence—she has a range of 8,500 nautical miles (or 9,781 miles) at 18 knots (or 21 miles per hour).
Admiral K carried around 1,500-2,000 people (that’s crew plus the aircrew). Around 40-50 planes and rotor-wing aircraft comprised the ship’s standard airwing. The fixed-wing aircraft onboard contained Su-33 and MiG-29K warplanes and a contingent of Ka-27 helicopters. The boat uses a ski-jump ramp for aircraft launches, limiting the size and weight of its aircraft contingent. As for its armaments, it possesses 12 P-700 Granit anti-ship missiles, Kinzhal surface-to-air systems, Kashtan close-in weapon systems (CIWS), and anti-submarine rockets.
Don’t Smirk—Russia’s Carrier Cancellation Is a Smart Strategic Move
When news broke that Moscow was not going to continue shoveling their money into the Admiral Kuznetsov, many in Washington’s think tank community began laughing with derision at the Russians. Finally, the line went, the Russians know their place: they are not—and likely never will be—an aircraft carrier power.
But in the 21st century, who on Earth would want to be an aircraft carrier power? The ships are tremendously expensive to build and maintain, are easy targets for anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) weapons, and are susceptible to drones. For all the chest-thumping from American think tankers and Pentagon officials, America’s vaunted carrier force was defeated by Yemen’s cave-dwelling Houthi rebels. Meanwhile, fears abound that American carriers will be unable to move in close to contested areas, such as the South China Sea or Taiwan Strait, because of China’s immense, complex A2/AD networks.
Perhaps the Russians are smart, then, to instead focus on developing their already impressive submarine warfare capabilities. Maybe, too, the Americans and their allies could take a page from the Russian playbook.
After all, if the Americans must face the Chinese in a military engagement, it will likely be nearer to Chinese shores, and will undoubtedly require a combination of greater submarine and unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) involvement (as well as hypersonic weapons) more so than we will every need aircraft carriers going forward.
The Russians are clearly poised for successfully waging modern warfare. It’d be nice if the self-styled sole remaining superpower, the United States, made itself ready for the demands of modern warfare, too.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a contributor at Popular Mechanics, who consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Shutterstock / Alan Kean.
