Like two fragments of a granite rock - the great legacy of the Soviet Union.
The heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers Kiev and Minsk, sold abroad at the price of scrap metal, now adorn amusement parks in the People's Republic of China. "Kiev" props up the quay wall in Tianjin. Its twin became part of the Minsk World theme park in Shenzhen. At first glance, the ships are floating naval and aviation museums - with aircraft placed on the upper deck, fake missiles and battle posts preserved in their original form in the superstructure. But if you go down to the lower decks, you suddenly find yourself in the realm of glitz and luxury: inside the former Soviet aircraft carrier there is an original hotel with 148 rooms - from simple to luxury class, as well as a restaurant with Ukrainian cuisine.
Legendary aircraft carrier pr. 1143 (code "Krechet"), which were in service with the USSR Navy from the mid-70s to the end of the 80s. The lead ship of the series - "Kiev", commissioned in 1975, became the ancestor of a new class of ships - heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers (TAVKR). Large combat units with a total displacement of over 40 thousand tons, combining an air wing of three dozen aircraft units and the striking power of a heavy missile cruiser. 2/3 of the hull length was occupied by the flight deck with seven landing pads for VTOL aircraft and helicopters. An aircraft hangar with dimensions of 130 x 22.5 meters was located under the flight deck. The bow was completely given over to accommodate missile and artillery weapons.
Bristling with the barrels of anti-aircraft guns and peaks of pointed missiles from beam launchers, with planes roaring on the flight deck - the 270-meter giant was a fantastic sight, which even now thousands of tourists from all over the world come to watch.
The hybrid turned out to be not very rational in terms of combat capabilities, however, very sophisticated from a technical point of view - in the 70s, no country in the world (except the United States), with all its desire, could not recreate something like that.
The design of the aircraft carrier embodied the best achievements of the Soviet military-industrial complex: the P-500 Basalt anti-ship complex with long-range supersonic missiles, the M-11 Shtorm medium-range anti-aircraft missile system, the Whirlwind anti-submarine missile system with special warheads, general radar stations detection MR-700 "Fregat-M" and MR-600 "Voskhod", combat information and control system "Alley-2", hydroacoustic complex as part of the underkeeping GAS "Platina" and towed GAS "Orion", station for detecting the thermal wake of underwater boats MI-110K and a station for detecting a radiation wake MI-110R, satellite communication and data transmission lines, five electronic warfare stations, passive jamming systems, automatic anti-aircraft guns with radar guidance. In 1975, no fleet in the world had such equipment and could not even dream of building such a ship.
From this perspective, the dimensions of the "Minsk" are well felt. The ship is monstrously large.
The "star number" of the Soviet TAKRs was an air show with Yak-38 aircraft. A small single-seat attack aircraft, which held the championship in accidents among all aircraft of the Air Force and the Navy. Nevertheless - one of three types of aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing, ever adopted and put into mass production (the other two VTOL aircraft - the British Sea Harrier and the promising American F-35B). The value of the Yak-38 as a combat unit was not great - the aircraft earned many offensive nicknames ("top mast protection aircraft") and was considered unpromising for performing any urgent tasks. Low thrust-to-weight ratio and low flight performance, coupled with the absence of an on-board radar, did not allow Yak to effectively intercept air targets (only with visual contact, using suspended cannon containers or short-range missiles). At the same time, the minimum combat radius (during vertical takeoff with a payload did not exceed 100 km), low combat load (only 1500 kg during takeoff with a short takeoff run) and the absence of small anti-ship missiles with a long launch range made it of little use as a strike aircraft.
It is much more important that a full squadron of anti-submarine helicopters could be based on board the aircraft carrier. A dozen Ka-25PL helicopters, the Whirlwind missile system and its own submarine detection equipment - TAVKR, originally created as a powerful anti-submarine cruiser, fully justified this mission.
Anti-aircraft weapons were of no less importance: the aircraft carrier, unlike the American aircraft carriers, was deprived of F-14 fighter-interceptors, but in return it had consolation in the form of three air defense echelons.
The first consisted of two Shtorm air defense systems (maximum firing range up to 55 km, warhead weighing 146 kg, cruiser ammunition - 96 missiles). In addition to medium-range air defense systems on board the "Kiev" there was a pair of short-range air defense systems "Osa-M" and four batteries of AK-630 anti-aircraft guns - 8 six-barreled automatic rifles with a rotating block of barrels and 4 fire control radars MR-123 "Vympel".
Finally, strike weapons, which became an unpleasant surprise for "probable opponents" - 8 launchers for anti-ship missiles of the P-500 "Basalt" complex (ammunition load - 16 anti-ship missiles). The maximum launch range is up to 500 km. Cruising speed - up to 2.5 m at high altitude. Launch weight ≈ 5 tons. A real "disposable attack aircraft", an unmanned kamikaze aircraft. Warhead - penetrating type, weighing 1000 kg or "special" with a capacity of 350 kt. As of the mid-late 70s, no AUG air defense system guaranteed protection from a "flock" of 8 Basalt anti-ship missiles. At the same time, one hit of a similar anti-ship missile with a conventional warhead was enough to break an escort cruiser in half or disable an aircraft carrier for a long time.
Contrary to popular misconception, the combat capabilities of the aircraft carrier were determined primarily by the capabilities of anti-aircraft, anti-submarine and strike weapons and the detection equipment placed on board. As for the Yak-38 superplanes, the pilots joked: "Soviet military threat: took off, scared, landed."
Full displacement - 40,000+ tons. Steam turbine power plant with a total capacity of 180,000 hp. The regular crew of the ship is 1,433 sailors + 430 people of the air wing. Full speed - 32 knots. The cruising range is 8000 miles at an economic speed of 18 knots. Six missile systems for various purposes, anti-aircraft and universal artillery, RBU, torpedoes, under-keel and towed GAS, a powerful radio-technical complex for detection, reconnaissance and electronic warfare, up to thirty aircraft and helicopters on board …
A masterpiece of science and technology. A naval combat platform that combines the functions of an anti-submarine ship, a missile cruiser and an aircraft carrier (helicopter carrier). TAKRs have become the hallmark of the Soviet fleet, powerful combat units capable of radically increasing the combat stability of any ocean squadron.
Aircraft carrier "Novorossiysk"
In total, 4 aircraft carriers were built according to the project 1143. "Kiev" and "Minsk" had minimal differences in design and were outwardly indistinguishable from each other.
The third building - "Novorossiysk" - was built taking into account all the identified shortcomings during the operation of the first aircraft carrier. Useless torpedo tubes were dismantled.obsolete Osa-M air defense systems and a spare set of Basalt missiles - reloading 5-ton missiles in combat conditions looked too unrealistic. The freed up space reserve was spent on increasing the air group and the possibility of placing troops on board. Now it is possible to base heavy helicopters. The CIUS and the ship's radio equipment were updated. The complex of detection equipment was supplemented by the MR-350 "Podkat" radar for detecting low-flying targets. Instead of the inferior GAS "Platina", the fantastic station "Polynom" was installed.
The fourth aircraft carrier - "Baku" ("Admiral Gorshkov", pr. 1143.4) - became the next stage in the evolution of Soviet aircraft-carrying cruisers. The bow part was expanded due to the elimination of the bow sponson on the left side - the number of P-500 "Basalt" launchers increased to 12. The obsolete "Shtorm" and "Osa" anti-aircraft systems were replaced by 24 underdeck launchers of short-range air defense systems "Dagger" (ammunition 192 SAM) - a direct consequence of the emergence of a threat in the form of low-flying anti-ship missiles. The caliber of the universal artillery was increased to 100 mm. New BIUS "Ice ax". For the first time in the Soviet fleet, a Mars-Passat radar complex with four fixed PARs was installed on the ship (they did not have time to bring this complex "to mind" - the USSR Navy disappeared, along with the great country).
The fate of these ships was different.
"Kiev" and "Minsk" served faithfully until the end of the 80s, completing 10 combat services in the vastness of the World Ocean. Due to the lack of a suitable coastal infrastructure, both TAVKRs were forced to stand in the roadstead, constantly using their own power plant for power supply. The raid "killed" the ships. By the end of the 80s, "Kiev" and "Minsk" almost completely exhausted their resources and needed urgent overhaul and modernization. By that time, the process of decommissioning the obsolete Yak-38 had begun - but no replacement in the form of the Yak-141 had appeared. In view of the uncertainty of the further fate and purpose of these giants and with a sharp reduction in funding, it was decided to exclude the aircraft carrier from the Navy.
In 1991, the "Kiev" was withdrawn from the combat composition of the fleet into the reserve - the ship had not been out to sea since 1987 and by that time was an incapacitated rusty wreck. In 1993, the aircraft carrier was finally disarmed and a year later sold for cutting to China. Despite fears associated with the restoration of the once formidable ship and its inclusion in the active composition of the PLA Navy, the Chinese refused to adopt such "hybrids". The aircraft carrier has turned into a luxurious museum hotel.
A similar story happened with the "Minsk" - the ship would have been sold for cutting in South Korea, but as a result it also ended up in China, turning into a majestic monument of the USSR Navy in Shenzhen.
The fate of the Novorossiysk turned out to be much more bitter: despite the relatively young age of the TAKR (less than 10 years old by the time it was put into reserve), the general archaism of its design and the lack of a suitable VTOL aircraft clearly influenced the outcome of the situation - in 1994 the ship was sold to a South Korean company. Young Distribution Company "for 4, 314 million dollars, but alas, at that time there were no people willing to buy the aircraft carrier for any urgent tasks, and" Novorossiysk "was mercilessly cut into nails.
The only one who managed to survive its time and enter service under a new, Indian name - INS Vikramaditya - was the Soviet aircraft-carrying cruiser Baku (aka Admiral Gorshkov).
TAKR "Kiev" in Tianjin
Anti-submarine missiles of the Whirlwind complex. The launch range is up to 24 km. The KVO of several hundred meters did not matter - the Vikhr missiles were equipped with nuclear warheads with a capacity of 10 kt with a zone of continuous destruction of 1 km when detonated at a depth of 200 m. The cruiser's ammunition consisted of 16 such ammunition
Combat information center TAKR
Hangar deck "Minsk"
Six-barreled "metal cutters" AK-630 for some reason painted black
A combat-transport Mi-24 is visible on the deck. The planes integrated into the line are Nanchang Q-5 light attack aircraft. It's hard to believe, but the Chinese claim that this is a deep modernization of the MiG-19.
Pay attention to the funny maid uniforms
