Putin beordrar styrkor att gå in i Ukraina - INVASION NU (2022-02-24)

Ammunition depot exploded in Rakitne district of Belgorod region

Russia is no longer an aircraft carrier nation

The rickety old Kuznetsov seems unlikely to put to sea again

The Russian navy’s sole aircraft carrier, the unfortunate Admiral Kuznetsov, was supposed to leave the port of Murmansk, in northern Russia, this spring for the first time in seven years. This according to a July 2023 report in Russian state media.

Kuznetsov didn’t leave. Instead, the 58,000-ton flattop – launched in 1985 and commissioned into the Soviet fleet six years later – remains pierside in Murmansk. Recent satellite imagery shows construction equipment still strewn across her 1,001-foot deck.

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That the Russians are willing to risk the unique carrier-capable MiGs in combat in Ukraine underscores how unlikely these same planes are to ever return to sea. Russian carrier aviation is fading away, just as more successful nations – the UK, Japan, Turkey and others – are joining or re-joining the aircraft carrier club.That the Russians are willing to risk the unique carrier-capable MiGs in combat in Ukraine underscores how unlikely these same planes are to ever return to sea. Russian carrier aviation is fading away, just as more successful nations – the UK, Japan, Turkey and others – are joining or re-joining the aircraft carrier club.