{"id":1401508,"date":"2022-03-26T08:15:51","date_gmt":"2022-03-26T12:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1401508"},"modified":"2022-03-26T08:15:55","modified_gmt":"2022-03-26T12:15:55","slug":"why-russias-only-aircraft-carrier-seems-doomed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-russias-only-aircraft-carrier-seems-doomed\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Russia\u2019s Only Aircraft Carrier Seems Doomed"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhy-russias-only-aircraft-carrier-seems-doomed%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1401508&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p><strong>Russia\u2019s Only Aircraft Carrier Is Back to Repair-mode \u2013<\/strong> It\u2019s back to the shipyard again for Russia\u2019s only aircraft carrier, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2022\/03\/russias-only-aircraft-carrier-a-floating-coffin-or-a-mini-battleship\/\">Admiral Kuznetsov<\/a>. Repairs and refits are a common refrain for the cursed carrier that has endured major deadly mishaps over the years. A Russian <a href=\"https:\/\/tass.com\/defense\/1425681\">state-run media report<\/a> on March 22 said the ship will be sent to a repair facility in April. This means the carrier is likely to miss a significant part of the war in Ukraine depending on how long the conflict lasts. Some think it may never sail again.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Major Work to Be Done<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Admiral Kuznetsov will head to the 35<sup>th<\/sup> Plant in Zvyozdochka \u2013 Russia\u2019s largest shipyard in Murmansk in northwest Russia. Work will not be done until September. The major issues with the carrier are its steam turbines and arrestor cables. At a minimum, eight boilers will have to be replaced due to problematic pipes inside the boilers.\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cna.org\/experts\/Gorenburg_D\">Dmitry Gorenburg<\/a>, a senior research scientist at the CNA think tank, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/russia-aircraft-carrier-admiral-kuznetsov-outdated-problems-2018-4\">was interviewed by Business Insider<\/a>. \u201cThe main problem with the ship is that is has a very problematic propulsion system,\u201d Gorenburg said. \u201cIt\u2019s just unreliable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Syria Deployment Becomes Another Downer<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p>The Kuznetsov had a chance to rebuild its reputation during Russia\u2019s intervention in Syria.<\/p>\n<p>It deployed to the eastern Mediterranean in October of 2016. First reports were positive as the Russians crowed that the carrier launched <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/russia-aircraft-carrier-admiral-kuznetsov-outdated-problems-2018-4\">over 400 sorties<\/a> including night missions. But then the problems with arrestor cables cropped up and the Kuznetsov <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularmechanics.com\/military\/navy-ships\/a24155\/kuznetsov-second-crash-in-three-weeks\/\">lost two airplanes<\/a>, including a Su-33 Flanker, when an arresting wire broke upon landing.\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Myriad of Problems<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p>By 2018, the aircraft carrier was assigned to drydock to address these problems. Bad luck struck when the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2021\/11\/will-russias-only-aircraft-carrier-ever-sail-again\/\">dry dock sunk<\/a>. This resulted in a damaged hull.\n<\/p>\n<p>That wasn\u2019t all. A crane on the drydock smashed into the ship and created a major hole. This killed one worker and hurt four others. It was estimated that these repairs would cost a billion dollars.\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>More Fatal Occurrences<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, two others died due to an electrical fire in the engine room sparked by a welding accident. Repairs were going to cost another billion dollars for that tragedy. Ten years earlier another fire killed a sailor. There was also a major oil leak in Ireland that year. The ship was so faulty that it often needed a repair ship and tugboats to escort it during deployments.\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Black Smoke Looks Terrible<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p>Another embarrassment for the Admiral Kuznetsov is that it belches out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2021\/07\/why-does-russias-only-aircraft-carrier-pump-out-so-much-black-smoke\/\">black smoke<\/a> from its propulsion system. The ship runs on a black, sticky tar-like petrochemical fuel called Mazut. The Mazut sent into the combustion chamber does not combust fully. This partial burn results in black smoke.\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Russia\u2019s Only Aircraft Carrier: Destined for Retirement?\u00a0<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p>It seems like the Russians should just give up on the Kuznetsov and start again with a nuclear-powered carrier. But the Russian ship procurement system, known for its cost overruns and schedule slips, would probably have difficulty with anything that ambitious.\n<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also must frustrate the Russian naval command that its only carrier is not sea-worthy enough to deploy in the current war in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2022\/03\/russia-has-a-giant-battlecruiser-that-could-attack-ukraine\/\">Ukraine<\/a>. This would add a carrier air group to the fight. Without the Kuznetsov, Russia will have to depend on corvettes, guided missile cruisers, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2022\/03\/yasen-russias-stealth-nuclear-attack-submarine-built-to-fight-the-us-navy\/\">submarines<\/a> firing stand-off missiles.\n<\/p>\n<p>As it stands now, the carrier won\u2019t be ready until at least the fall of this year and that\u2019s if the upgrades, repairs, and modernization efforts go according to plan. But nothing can be taken for granted with the Kuznetsov, a bucket of bolts that has tested the patience of the Russian navy.\n<\/p>\n<p><em>Now serving as 1945\u2019s Defense and National Security Editor, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/brenteastwood.com\/\"><em>Brent M. Eastwood<\/em><\/a><em>, PhD, is the author of <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Humans-Machines-Data-Future-Warfare\/dp\/B091F5SK19\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&#038;keywords=brent+m.+eastwood&#038;qid=1632871186&#038;s=books&#038;sr=1-1\"><em>Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare<\/em><\/a><em>. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer. You can follow him on Twitter <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BMEastwood\"><em>@BMEastwood<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russia\u2019s Only Aircraft Carrier Is Back to Repair-mode \u2013 It\u2019s back to the shipyard again for Russia\u2019s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov. Repairs and refits are a common refrain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":489,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1401508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1401508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/489"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1401508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1401508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1401508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1401508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1401508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}