The Russian Navy’s lone aircraft carrier, the Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov, is heading to the shop to get some upgrades. Let’s be honest, if you’ve loyally followed We Are the Mighty, then you likely know a thing or two about this ship’s reputation. To be frank, this ship desperately needs some upgrades.
As it turns out, the video Russia released extolling the Kuznetsov’s Syrian deployment didn’t magically make existing problems go away. There remains a lot of stuff about the piece-of-crap Kuznetsov that needs to be fixed. Maybe after this round of revamps, the ship won’t be a floating hell for its crew.
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A Russian Navy Su-33 Flanker prepares to take off from the Kuznetsov.
(Moscow Kremlin)
Among the many changes is the installation of new boilers that will (supposedly) be more reliable than the current ones. Currently, the boiler suite on the vessel consists of eight KVG-4 turbo-pressurized boilers that deliver 64 kilograms per square centimeter of pressure. Right now, the Kuznetsov‘s propulsion system is so bad that the ship is accompanied by ocean-going tugboats.
The Mars-Passat radar system — which NATO calls “Sky Watch” — is also slated for replacement. This system, to put it bluntly, is complete garbage. So, the Russians want to replace it with a new radar called Poliment-Redut. Russia also plans to add the Vityaz medium-range surface-to-air missile system to the Kuznetsov, which currently uses the SA-N-9 Gauntlet as a point-defense missile.
HMS Liverpool escorts the Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov.
(Royal Navy)
Russia plans for the Kuznetsov to be in the shop through 2020 and is aiming to have it back in service by 2021. The Russians have plans to replace the Kuznetsov‘s Su-33 Flankers with MiG-29 Fulcrums by then, too. However, even with upgrades, it still won’t be able to stand up to an American — or French — aircraft carrier.