Many people say that Russia is not a naval power. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Navy has been going downhill, in sharp contrast with the U.S. Navy, and it has been pulled farther and farther by the U.S. Navy, especially large surface ships, which Russia has not had in recent years.
What an improvement! However, the strongest of the Russian Navy is obviously not surface ships, but submarine formations that can compete with the United States. This also allows Russia to have the capability of a second nuclear counterattack, and now Russian submarines are successively equipped with hypersonic missiles. The aircraft carrier formation is full of threats. After all, no country in the world has the ability to intercept hypersonic missiles.
Although Russia has not done much on large surface ships in recent years, it has made a lot of progress in weapons against ships, especially Hypersonic weapons can be described as high-speed propulsion. Many hypersonic missiles such as zircon and Pioneer have greatly increased Russia’s military strength. Even the United States, which has 11 aircraft carriers, dare not rashly confront Russia!
Many people say why Russia no longer builds aircraft carriers? As the world’s second largest military power, Russia obviously also wants to build aircraft carriers, but Russia’s economy and military industry have not seen much improvement in recent years. Even if it is looking for a large shipyard that can build aircraft carriers, it is more difficult, so it is expected in near future they can build aircraft carrier.
It is not easy for Russia to build more large surface ships! We must know that Russia now only has an aircraft carrier, that is, the Kuznetsov aircraft carrier. The age is very old, but this aircraft carrier is still under major repairs. It is still unknown whether it can be repaired, and how long it can be used even if it is repaired is still a question! Now Russia has no aircraft carrier available at all, which is inconsistent with the status of the world’s second largest military power. After all, aircraft carriers are a symbol of a major power, which will more or less embarrass Russia, so Russia wants to build a new aircraft carrier.
For Russia, if it only owns an aircraft carrier or an aircraft carrier that cannot be used at this stage, the Russian navy will be greatly reduced. You must know that Russia has a vast sea area, whether it is the Arctic Ocean, the Baltic Sea in the west or the Pacific Ocean in the east, Russia needs Own aircraft carrier to increase the deterrence of surface ships! With such a vast sea area, how many aircraft carriers are enough?
We must know that the United States still retains 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in active service. This number is obviously not comparable to Russia. Russia is also very envious in its heart, but it is simply unable to build so many aircraft carriers! With such a vast sea area, Russia needs an aircraft carrier to protect its maritime rights! So how many aircraft carriers are enough? Admiral Viktor Kravchenko, the former chief of the general staff of the Russian Navy, gave the answer!
Kravchenko said: “Modern methods of naval warfare do not require the Navy to have carrier-class ships, but if it decides to build them, then the fleet needs to have four such ships: two in the Northern Fleet and two in the Pacific Fleet.”
He said The Northern Fleet and the Pacific Fleet need to have two complete aircraft carrier, strike groups. If one of the aircraft carriers fails, they can replace each other. He said: “But on this issue, everything depends on funding. The cost of building and maintaining the combat readiness of these strike groups is very high. Therefore, you need to think twice when deciding to build such a fleet.”
According to the general, there are no aircraft carriers in the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. The four aircraft carriers are mainly deployed in the Arctic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, but when they will be available. I don’t know if this admiral has ever thought about it. After all, for Russia, Now it is difficult to build an aircraft carrier!
And the long-rumored storm-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is initially estimated to have a displacement of about 100,000 tons. Can it be built as expected? At least it seems that this nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is still under planning. After all, it belongs to the same level as the Ford aircraft carrier. It is obviously impossible to build easily, and it is also difficult for Russia!
Therefore, whether it will be built as desired in the end depends on the situation. The biggest possibility is to delay the construction. Russia is likely to build a medium-sized aircraft carrier of about six or seven tons, and then transition to this 100,000-ton nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, so short It will be difficult to build this nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in time. At least, we will not see the advent of this aircraft carrier within ten years, but hope that Russia will bring us surprises!