Big failure: The kyiv-class hybrid aircraft carriers were the Soviet Union’s attempt to counter American naval dominance during the Cold War. Designed for anti-submarine warfare and limited air capabilities, these ships combined cruiser and carrier elements.

-Each kyiv-class ship could launch Yak-38 VTOL fighters and Ka-25 helicopters, but their limited airpower and hybrid design were unable to compete with U.S. aircraft carriers. Despite powerful anti-ship missiles, the kyiv class could not provide the sustained air superiority required for carrier-based warfare.

-After the Cold War, Russia retired and sold these ships, ending an unsuccessful chapter in Soviet naval history.

Why Soviet kyiv-class aircraft carriers never lived up to the hype

After the Cold War, the kyiv-class aircraft carriers were retired, sold, or scrapped, marking the end of an unsuccessful chapter in Soviet naval history.

Not big enough to be an aircraft carrier and heavier than a cruiser, the Russian kyiv classs carrier was a hybrid ship intended to accommodate the growth of the United States Navy submarine-launched nuclear missiles during the Cold War.

This was the Soviet Navy’s second attempt to build some kind of aircraft carrier to challenge advances in the development of American submarines and flat-top aircraft. The four kyiv-class ships were never successful. They did not have sufficient air power or offensive capability, which showed that the Soviets lacked the talent or shipbuilding capability to succeed in air and naval warfare.

Call on class kyiv

Since the 1970s, the Soviets called the kyiv class the Project 1143 Krechyet which was designed to be the answer to sea-launched nuclear weapons. The kyiv class was built on the basis of the previous Moskva class, which had only 12 helicopters for anti-submarine warfare. The main mission of the Moskva and the Leningrad was to combat submarines: to prevent the Americans from firing missiles launched from submarines like the Polaris.

Sub-launched nuclear weapons have been modernized

But then extended range of nuclear weaponsand the U.S. Navy could fire nuclear weapons at great distances. The Moskva class did not have the means to compete with these long-range launches and they were soon considered obsolete. The kyiv class should be the answer if the Soviets ever wanted to have an aircraft carrier.

kyiv class: only a handful of fighters

The idea behind the kyiv class was to load it with 20 Yak-38 vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fighters. But it was easier for the Soviets to equip the aircraft carrier with anti-submarine helicopters like the Ka-25 sub-fighter than a full contingent of Yak-38 fighters. The Yak-38s really weren’t very powerful and were considered light attack fighters – not really enough to answer the call for kyiv’s primary mission of eliminating carriers, cruisers and destroyers. Americans.

The Sandbox anti-ship missile wasn’t bad

The kyiv class carried 16 Sandbox missiles And Cup surface-to-air missiles with 72 missiles, as well as anti-submarine rocket launchers and torpedoes, so the kyiv class was more heavily armed than the Moskva class. The Sandbox was one of the best anti-ship missiles of the time and could fly over seas at MACH 2.5 with a range of 341 miles.

The hybrid aircraft carrier cruiser

The first of the class, the 44,000-ton kyiv, entered service in 1976. Three other kyiv-class ships were built: Minsk, Novorossiysk, and Baku (later renamed Admiral Gorshkov). The arms were extended forward, making the ships look like cruisers, but the stern and port side contained the flight deck next to the superstructure island it was aft of the center of the ship.

Not the answer

The kyiv class never imposed itself. The hybrid model could not compete with the best American carriers. They did not have the air assets necessary to make a difference in air combat. Anti-ship missiles were good for their time. With these, the kyiv class could have hit ships in a US Navy carrier battle group, so that was the advantage. The Soviets should have done everything possible to produce a real carrier instead of these hybrid models. This was exactly what it was intended to do, but beyond the cursed Admiral Kuznetsov, the Soviet and Russian carrier program was struggling to find relevance in a military more concerned with land and air warfare.

After the Cold War, the kyiv-class hybrid carriers were withdrawn from service due to a lack of funds and lack of interest from the Russian government. The Baku/Admiral Gorshkov was sold in India in 2004. The Russians demolished Novorossiysk. Minsk and kyiv were bought by Chinese commercial interests.

Expert Bio: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood

Dr. Brent M. Eastwood is the author of Humans, Machines and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an emerging threats expert and a former U.S. Army infantry officer. You can follow him on Twitter @BMEastwood. He holds a Ph.D. in political science and foreign policy/international relations.

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