Does The Russian Navy Need Aircraft Carriers?

In a picture released by the British Ministry of Defence, UK ships and aircraft shadow the Russian Petr Velikiy (C) and the Russian Admiral Kuznetsov (top) as they pass through the English Channel January 24, 2017 (AFP Photo/L(Phot) Dave JENKINS)

The Saker: Is there a future for Russian aircraft carriers?

Those following the news from Russia have probably heard that Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov (official name: Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov), was put into dry dock for major repairs and retrofits. Things did not go well. First, the dry dock sank (it was Russia’s biggest) and then a huge crane came crashing down on the deck. And just to make it even worse, a fire broke out on the ship killing 2 and injuring more. With each setback, many observers questioned the wisdom of pouring huge sums of money into additional repairs when just the scheduled ones would cost a lot of money and take a lot of time.

Actually, the damage from the fire was not as bad as expected. The damage from the crane was, well, manageable. But the loss of the only huge floating dry dock is a real issue: the Kuznetsov cannot be repaired elsewhere and these docks cost a fortune.

But that is not the real problem.

The real problem is that there are major doubts amongst Russian specialists as to whether Russia needs ANY aircraft carriers at all.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Russia has never been a naval power. Besides .... they do not have the funds and resources to become one.

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