Future Russian Aircraft Carriers and Deck Aviation. #3

Any truth to this, fellas?

By the time it is ready the USN is not going to be the problem it is now or has been in the past.

Having said that an aircraft carrier means mobile fire power that can move anywhere around the world in a relatively short time and can make sure Russian interests are not walked all over with no regard.

If Russia really intend on building that carrier we might seen rebuild of Baltic Shipyard or expansion of other shipyard. As well as a proper naval Su-57 prototype being tested at naval aviation base.

Actually the huge shipyards in the Far East are intended for making the big ships and Sukhoi has talked about a carrier based Su-57... and will probably start working on that now.

I would add it is amusing seeing a brand new carrier design with Yak-44 AWACS and Ka-27 helicopters. Minoga is more likely and possibly something developed from the Il-212 could be used as an AWACS platform.

but should the Checkmate see rapid success in its development as a land-based platform, then it might make better sense to develop that aircraft into a naval platform also, but fuel is always the deal-breaker when it comes to having a carrier-based fighter and we still need to see what kind of internal fuel capacity the Checkmate will have.

I don't think they would go for a single engined light fighter for carrier use. You are not going to have a lot of them so why not make them  the best (Su-57).

They are building a new shipyard complex near St. Petersburg?

They have a lot of new ships they need to build before they start to build fixed wing carriers.

Remember in 2028 they will be launching two 40K ton helicopter carrier landing craft...

They are going to need escort ships, which means destroyers and probably cruiser sized ships for serious anti air capacity.

It is highly unlikely given the current priorities and changes in warfare.

The Russian Navy is currently constructing two 40K ton helicopter carrier/landing craft, one of which appears to be specialised for mass drone use applications.

Having two helicopter carriers within a group of surface ships would be very useful because it would improve protection from subs with anti sub helicopters but also improve protection against sea surface drones where light transport helicopters like the Ka-226 could be loaded up with door mounted gatling guns and tens of thousands of rounds of ammo to fire at small fast sea surface targets.

A fixed wing carrier just makes sense... keeping in mind that the Kuznetsov is already much better defended against enemy anti ship missiles and drones because it carries the ship based version of TOR in significant numbers.

The likelyhood that it also carries added air defence vertical launch missiles is also highly likely and may include the replacement of the Granit anti ship missile with the UKSK vertical launch system which can carry land attack cruise missiles and anti ship missiles, but can also carry anti sub ballistic guided weapons and also medium and long range surface to air missiles as required too.

A decent AWACS platform and flight of fighters to protect it would go a long way to making Russian ships at sea much much safer from threats the western navies present. The ship launched anti ship hypersonic missiles of one frigate would be sufficient to sink an entire US carrier battlegroup so the aircraft would not be needed for anything other than air defence. Indeed Yasen should be able to take down any threats to a Russian surface group, but would be powerless to do anything about anti ship missiles and drones already launched in the direction of the Russian ships.

AWACS aircraft allows early detection and identification meaning the situational awareness of the commander of the group of ships will be excellent, which leads to better decisions and better outcomes.

The cost of such ships is not insignificant, but in terms of allowing Russia to trade around the globe the economic boost free trade will bring makes it a very good bargain.

Aircraft carriers are not super ships and no ship cannot be sunk. But would you give up you seven non pawn pieces in chess and play with 15 pawns and a king and expect to win?

Activity in the Middle East shows even western ships struggle to protect shipping lanes for coastal threats... lots of places to hide and no assurance you stop everything every time.

Aircraft give you fast and long ranged options when presented with problems.

If the captain of the USS Vincennes had not been acting so irrationally and had not sailed into Iranian waters firing at Iranian navy boats the nearby US carrier could have sent a couple of F-14s to intercept the suspected attacking aircraft to properly identify it. Instead they could only go by what their radar returns told them and they panicked and shot down a civilian airliner.