"Rescue" the sole aircraft carrier, Russia wants to make the "Kuznetsov" reborn
Due to the lack of necessary maintenance, the "Kuznetsov" has become cumbersome.
At one time, there was news that Russia would retire the aircraft carrier, but in the end the "Kuznetsov" passed this hurdle.
Our reporter Zhang Qiang
Russia's only aircraft carrier has made new progress.
TASS news agency recently reported that the Russian Navy "Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier will be tested at sea in 2022.
The "Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier has been a fleeting disadvantage recently. First, a few years ago, when it sailed to Syria, it caused media attention because of billowing black smoke, and when it entered the dock for maintenance, it was shocked by the dock crane collapsed. Hull.
On December 12, 2019, another fire accident occurred on the aircraft carrier.
"It should be said that the latest developments reported this time are rare good news for the aircraft carrier'Kuznetsov' in recent years. The role of the aircraft carrier in conventional wars and the game of great powers is irreplaceable, and it is difficult for Russia to abandon this aircraft carrier. "In this regard, military commentator Zhang Haixiong said.
Will be able to serve for 20 years in the future
The aircraft carrier "Kuznetsov" was built in the Soviet era and is a conventionally powered skid-type aircraft carrier. Its sister ship is "Varyag".
The aircraft carrier "Kuznetsov" has a total length of 306.45 meters, a width of 72 meters, a waterline length of 33.4 meters, a draft of 9.87 meters, a standard displacement of 46,540 tons, a full load displacement of 61,390 tons, a total power of 200,000 horsepower, and a maximum speed of 29. Section.
Due to the lack of necessary maintenance, the "Kuznetsov" has become unwieldy.
Although it has been upgraded, the results are not satisfactory.
As a result, just after returning from Syria in 2017, Russia announced that it would carry out a two-and-a-half-year period of modernization and maintenance. All work on the ship will be completed by 2020. However, due to two bizarre accidents, this maintenance was once full of variables. .
At one time, there was news that Russia would retire this aircraft carrier, but in the end, the Kuznetsov passed this hurdle.
Zhang Haixiong said: "Politically speaking, aircraft carriers are a symbol of great power status and a symbol of the Russian Navy. As a world power, Russia has an indispensable plot and demand for aircraft carriers. From a military point of view, Russia has more military operations overseas. The task is getting heavier and heavier. Aircraft carriers are the heavy equipment for long-sea operations and strategic strikes. Russia needs aircraft carriers for overseas operations. From the perspective of personnel training, if there is no aircraft carrier, the Russian navy carrier aviation will not be able to conduct sea take-off and landing training. It is very difficult for Russia to recover in the short term. Therefore, Russia must retain this aircraft carrier."
Zhang Haixiong introduced that the scale of the maintenance of the "Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier is relatively large, which is equivalent to entering the field for mid-repair, which will generally last for 2-4 years.
During the entire life cycle of an aircraft carrier, ship-based facilities are generally upgraded and transformed, including weapon systems, command systems, thunder systems, pipeline systems, and carrier-based aircraft support systems to ensure that the aircraft carrier’s combat performance can keep up with the times.
Generally speaking, aircraft carriers have a service period of about 50 years.
The Kuznetsov has been in service for 30 years, and it is expected to have a service life of 20 years after this repair.
Aircraft carrier battle group still needs "veterans" as errands
Zhang Haixiong said that the "Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier is indeed relatively old. In recent years, problems such as breaking of the arresting cable and black smoke have occurred during overseas deployment. A big hole was smashed in the previous maintenance.
Therefore, this time its maintenance should be more comprehensive.
"Generally speaking, in this kind of maintenance, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers will replace nuclear fuel, and conventionally-powered aircraft carriers will maintain the power system. It is expected that the Kuznetsov will carry out major upgrades to the power system to completely solve the power system. The issue of aging. Of course, the carrier-based aircraft support system will also be upgraded and replaced to improve the safety factor and efficiency of carrier-based aircraft taking off and landing. It will also upgrade electronic systems such as radars and use more compact phases that have been verified on new frigates. Array radar is used to improve the detection capability. In addition, the deck and pipelines of the hull will also be overhauled and replaced." Zhang Haixiong said.
For example, it will be equipped with the "Armor-S" air defense system and the latest S-350 ship-to-air missiles. It will also upgrade the deck to be suitable for taking off and landing MiG-29K/KUB carrier aircraft.
After the upgrade is expected, the carrier will carry 24 MiG-29K/KUB carrier-based aircraft.
"It can be said that this maintenance will effectively improve the combat effectiveness of the aircraft carrier'Kuznetsov'. Generally speaking, the'brain' (command system) is more flexible, the sea runs faster, the combat sea area is wider, and the view is better. The clearing is farther, the take-off and landing of the carrier-based aircraft is safer, and the air defense capability is stronger. However, because of the limited performance of the carrier-based aircraft, its combat capability has not yet been qualitatively improved." Zhang Haixiong said.
With the continuous launch of new ships in Russia in recent years, it is expected that the "Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier will be equipped with new fleet ships after the repair is completed.
For example, the new Russian 22350 and 22350M frigates have ocean-going combat capabilities and can join the Russian aircraft carrier formation.
"However, Russia still lacks new-type destroyers and large-scale integrated supply ships, as well as a new generation of attack nuclear submarines. The standard ships of these aircraft carrier battle groups may still need existing'veterans' as errands." Zhang Haixiong said.
Future aircraft carrier construction plans are more pragmatic
There has always been a debate in Russia whether or not to build a new aircraft carrier.
Nowadays, Russia continues to maintain the "Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier under all kinds of pressure, and it has continuously disclosed new developments, which can be said to mean that this kind of dispute has come to an end.
“Building an aircraft carrier and owning an aircraft carrier are Russia’s unswerving dreams and strategic goals. It’s just that Russia’s economy is currently relatively difficult, and the pressure of overseas warfare is also great, and military enterprises have not recovered so far, lacking the economic foundation and industrial capacity to build aircraft carriers. Russia’s goal of building a new aircraft carrier in the future is clear, but when it will be rich and capable of building is a problem that is difficult to solve in the short term.” Zhang Haixiong said.
The reporter learned that Russia has repeatedly disclosed its new aircraft carrier construction plan.
In 2017, Russia disclosed the 100,000-tonne "Storm" nuclear-powered aircraft carrier model.
Subsequently, the Russian TASS news agency disclosed a design plan for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a displacement of approximately 70,000 tons.
In 2019, Russia exhibited another conventionally powered aircraft carrier model with a displacement of about 60,000 tons.
In response to these design plans, Zhang Haixiong is more inclined to believe that after the "Kuznetsov", Russia may build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of about 70,000 tons.
This is because, on the one hand, Russia has rich research experience in nuclear power plants and the technological reserves of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers left over from the Soviet Union; on the other hand, nuclear power is the future development trend of aircraft carriers, and it also has advantages that conventional power cannot match.
Therefore, Russia should choose to develop nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
"In the long run, benchmarking the American aircraft carrier should be the dream of the Russian Navy, but it may not be realistic at the moment. A medium and large aircraft carrier of about 70,000 tons is relatively cost-effective, and Russia is more acceptable. Especially in the future, there will be no one on board. After the aircraft is on board, it will effectively increase the number of aircraft carrier-borne aircraft. The aircraft carrier of about 70,000 tons has a fairly good strike capability and can meet the needs of the Russian Navy." Zhang Haixiong said.