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"С нами Бог и Андреевский флаг!"Sukhoi Su-33 Flanker-D, 2nd squadron, 279th KIAP, AV-MF, North Sea ca. 2007
The picture depicts Su-33 Flanker-D of the 2nd squadron "Tigers", 279th KIAP, parked on the flight deck of aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov ready to be launched from its port rear blast deflector. The aircraft had its wing folded showing its armaments of R-73 (AA-11 Archer) and R-27 (AA-10 Alamo) Missiles, its wingtip stations which usually held the Sorbtsiya L-005 ECM pod are empty as well as the centerline and intake stations.
The background offers a look into Admiral Kuznetsov's portside flight deck, showing its landing controller room as well as a glimpse to one of its CADS-N-1 Kashtan CIWS Battery. Hidden just beyond the deck between the controller room and the Kashtan battery are six rotary VLS modules for the 3K95 Kinzhal (SA-N-9 Gauntlet) SAM .The first, second and third arrestor wire and their pulley system are clearly visible on the deck.
The pilots wear standard outfit for operation over water, consisting of ASP-74VS life belt and MSK-5 sea survival suit worn over ZK-5 and VZK-5 overall flying suit. The helmets are of ZSh-7 type with bracket for night vision equipment.
I actually had his picture laying around half-finished all the way back from one or two years ago. Last month i noticed that the Russian Navy Day of this year, which fall on July 26th, also marks the 325th anniversary of the formation of the Russian navy. Also, August 17th also marks the first flight of the Su-33 prototype, the T10K-1, so it's only fitting to finish this picture for the occasion.
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The story of Maj. gen. Timur Apakidze and the formation of modern Russian naval aviation are actually pretty interesting. Considering Russian cinemas is no stranger to patrioic historical and semi-historical movies (Waterloo, T-34, The spacewalker, and Salyut 7), I will not surprised if they retell it into a top gun-esque movie
And speaking of top gun, i just remembered i saw this spoof waay back in high school: https://youtu.be/2nKuoNhihh4
According to things I've read, it came down to cost and how the Soviets anticipated using the ship. She was intended to be used in a defensive role in or near their home waters, so the need to remain at sea continuously without refueling wasn't there, so nuclear power was unnecessary.
Ah I see, that makes sense, thanks! On a different note, and just because its something that stuck with me after I read it, I believe the Russian's refer to their warships as 'He' because combat is a masculine pursuit, I'm sure an actual Russian will be along any moment to tell me that's crazy talk...
No, off-hand the only country I can think of to use that reasoning was Germany. With Russian a ship is an "it" unless it's named after a person, in which case it's treated as having the gender of that person. The words that refer to classes of ships are grammatically masculine, but not individual ships.
Good question,
As much as Khrushchev loves corn, he adamantly opposed the idea of aircraft carriers. this stunted the development of Soviet naval aviation, which became the victim of the 1959 defense cut.
The Soviet carrier project only resurfaces after Brezhnev took power in 1964, resulting in project 1123 aka Moskva-class that was pitched as "ASW Helicopter Carrier" to counter the threat of US Polaris missile submarines
Fast forward to 1973, after getting their feet wet with the Moskva-class, The Russian Navy took the next step, assembling a specification for a new type of ship to carry not only helicopters, but fixed-wing fighter aircraft. This resulted in the ambitious project OREL, a nuclear-powered, large-deck aircraft carrier with a similar philosophy as US aircraft carriers.
However, Soviet Defense Minister Marshal Andrei Grechko died in 1976 and the Defense Ministry was taken over by Marshal Ustinov, who did not share Grechko's enthusiasm for large-deck aircraft carriers. Elements within the Defense Ministry and the Navy itself, who viewed smaller designs that carried VTOL aircraft as superior in terms of cost-effectiveness, intervened to halt the progress of OREL.
While the fate of OREL is being debated, Compromise work was done on an interim carrier design called project 1143 aka the Kiev-class. The Kiev-class was far from ideal considering its conventional powerplant and a measly air wing consisting of only a dozen Yak-38 Forger VTOL fighters.
In 1981, Defense Minister Ustinov observed the West-81 exercises aboard the Kiev, and this firsthand look at its shortcomings finally persuaded him to support a follow-on design. Project 1143.5 aka Kuznetsov-class was launched in 1985 largely derived from Kiev-class including its oil-fired steam turbine propulsion and ski-jump deck. However, political turmoil delayed its commissioning to 1991.
tl;dr, Kuznetsov is basically a follow-on design of an interim design that surfaced after the proper Soviet CVN project (OREL) was cut down by political ax. The Soviet navy did revisit the OREL CVN project with the Ul'yanovsk in 1988, but scrapped it in 1992 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
As much as Khrushchev loves corn, he adamantly opposed the idea of aircraft carriers. this stunted the development of Soviet naval aviation, which became the victim of the 1959 defense cut.
The Soviet carrier project only resurfaces after Brezhnev took power in 1964, resulting in project 1123 aka Moskva-class that was pitched as "ASW Helicopter Carrier" to counter the threat of US Polaris missile submarines
Fast forward to 1973, after getting their feet wet with the Moskva-class, The Russian Navy took the next step, assembling a specification for a new type of ship to carry not only helicopters, but fixed-wing fighter aircraft. This resulted in the ambitious project OREL, a nuclear-powered, large-deck aircraft carrier with a similar philosophy as US aircraft carriers.
However, Soviet Defense Minister Marshal Andrei Grechko died in 1976 and the Defense Ministry was taken over by Marshal Ustinov, who did not share Grechko's enthusiasm for large-deck aircraft carriers. Elements within the Defense Ministry and the Navy itself, who viewed smaller designs that carried VTOL aircraft as superior in terms of cost-effectiveness, intervened to halt the progress of OREL.
While the fate of OREL is being debated, Compromise work was done on an interim carrier design called project 1143 aka the Kiev-class. The Kiev-class was far from ideal considering its conventional powerplant and a measly air wing consisting of only a dozen Yak-38 Forger VTOL fighters.
In 1981, Defense Minister Ustinov observed the West-81 exercises aboard the Kiev, and this firsthand look at its shortcomings finally persuaded him to support a follow-on design. Project 1143.5 aka Kuznetsov-class was launched in 1985 largely derived from Kiev-class including its oil-fired steam turbine propulsion and ski-jump deck. However, political turmoil delayed its commissioning to 1991.
tl;dr, Kuznetsov is basically a follow-on design of an interim design that surfaced after the proper Soviet CVN project (OREL) was cut down by political ax. The Soviet navy did revisit the OREL CVN project with the Ul'yanovsk in 1988, but scrapped it in 1992 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Impressively done Graue! btw if you're looking for something aviation related to read I recommend 'Feet Wet' by Paul T. Gillchrist, finished it recently and it was interesting, a look at his experience flying carrier operations from WW2 propeller planes to the F-14 Tomcat.
Its not an area I'm particularly familiar with either, there are a lot of inventions for carriers that seem totally obvious after their creation and implementation, like the through-deck design, steam-catapults and the landing-light system, it was eye-opening for me at least.
Of course I managed to read it after I blew up a carrier in one of my stories. ;)
Of course I managed to read it after I blew up a carrier in one of my stories. ;)
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