Kiev class: Russia to merge aircraft carrier and cruiser into single warship

Summary and key points: The Soviet Union’s Kiev-class hybrid aircraft carriers were designed in the 1970s to counter the U.S. Navy’s submarine-launched nuclear missiles. These 44,000-ton ships combined features of cruisers and carriers, with a mix of Yak-38 VTOL fighters and anti-submarine helicopters.

-Despite being heavily armed with Sandbox anti-ship missiles, the Kiev class did not have sufficient air power to effectively challenge the American aircraft carriers.

-The Soviet Union’s attempts to develop a true fleet of aircraft carriers failed, as these hybrid ships could not fulfill their intended role.

Kiev-class: Russia’s failed hybrid aircraft carrier that failed to challenge the US navy

After the Cold War, the Kiev-class carriers were retired, sold or scrapped, ending a failed chapter in Soviet history.

The Russian Kiev-class carrier was not large enough to be a carrier and was heavier than a cruiser. It was a hybrid ship designed to meet the growing demand of the U.S. Navy for submarine-launched nuclear missiles during the Cold War.

This was the second attempt by the Soviet Navy to build a type of aircraft carrier to challenge the advances in American submarine and flat-top development. The four Kiev-class ships never succeeded. They lacked sufficient air power or offensive capability, and it demonstrated that the Soviets lacked the talent or shipbuilding capacity to succeed in carrier warfare.

Bring on the Kiev class

The Soviets began in the 1970s and called the Kiev class Project 1143 Krechyet, which was designed as a response to sea-launched nuclear weapons. The Kiev class built on the earlier Moskva class, which had only 12 helicopters for anti-submarine warfare. Anti-submarine warfare was the primary mission of the Moskva and Leningrad, to prevent the Americans from launching submarine-launched missiles such as the Polaris.

Privately launched nuclear weapons were modernized

But then the ranges of nuclear weapons became longer and the US Navy could launch nuclear weapons at great distances. The Moskva class did not have the means to challenge these long-range launches and were quickly considered obsolete. The Kiev class would have to be the answer if the Soviets ever had any form of aircraft carrier.

Kiev class: only a handful of fighters

The idea behind the Kiev class was to load it with 20 Yak-38 vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) fighters. However, it was easier for the Soviets to staff the carrier with anti-submarine helicopters such as the Ka-25 sub hunter than a full complement of Yak-38 fighters. The Yak-38s were certainly not all that powerful and were considered light attack fighters – not really enough to meet the call for the Kiev’s primary mission, which was to eliminate American carriers, cruisers and destroyers.

The Sandbox Anti-Ship Missile wasn’t bad

The Kiev class carried 16 Sandbox missiles and Goblet surface-to-air missiles with 72 missiles, plus anti-submarine rocket launchers and torpedoes, so the Kiev class was more heavily armed than the Moskva class. The Sandbox was one of the best anti-ship missiles of its time, capable of sweeping the seas at MACH 2.5 with a range of 341 miles.

The hybrid cruiser-carrier

The first of the class, the 44,000 ton Kiev, entered service in 1976. Three other Kiev-class ships were built – Minsk, Novorossiysk and Baku (later renamed Admiral Gorshkov). The gunwales were located in the bow, making the ships resemble cruisers, but the stern and port sides contained the flight deck in addition to the superstructure island located aft of the ship’s centerline.

Not the answer

The Kiev class never came into its own. The hybrid model could not challenge the best American carriers. They did not have the air assets to make a difference in air combat. The anti-ship missiles were good for the time. With those, the Kiev class could have hit ships in a US Navy carrier battle group, so that was its advantage. The Soviets should have done everything they could to produce a bona fide carrier instead of these hybrids. There were plans to do so, but aside from the cursed Admiral Kuznetsov, the Soviet and Russian carrier programs struggled to be relevant in a military more concerned with land and air combat.

After the Cold War, the Kiev-class hybrid carriers were decommissioned due to lack of funds and lack of interest from the Russian government. The Baku/Admiral Gorshkov was sold to India in 2004. The Russians scrapped the Novorossiysk. The Minsk and Kiev were bought by Chinese business interests.

Expert Biography: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood

Dr. Brent M. Eastwood is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an Emerging Threats expert and a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. You can follow him on Twitter @BMEastwoodHe holds a Ph.D. in political science and foreign policy/international relations.

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