Kiev-class aircraft carrier

This article is about the Kiev-class aircraft carriers. For the Soviet aircraft carrier Kiev, see Soviet aircraft carrier Kiev.

Aircraft carrier Novorossiysk, USSR, 1986 Novorossiysk in 1986
Class overview
Builders:	Chernomorsky Shipyard 444
Operators:	Soviet Navy Russian Navy Indian Navy
Preceded by:	Moskva-class helicopter carrier
Subclasses:	Baku-class
In service:	28 December 1975–1995 15 December 2013 – present
Completed:	4
Active:	INS Vikramaditya
Preserved:	Kiev (China) Minsk (China)
General characteristics
Type:	Aviation Cruiser
Displacement:	42,000–45,000 metric tons full load
Length:	273 m (896 ft)
Beam:	53 m (174 ft) o/a 31 m (102 ft) w/l
Draught:	10 m (33 ft)
Propulsion:	8 turbopressurized boilers, 4 steam turbines (200,000 shp), four shafts
Speed:	32 kn (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Complement:	1,200 to 1,600
Armament:	See article for variations 80 to 200 surface-to-air missiles 2 dual-purpose guns 8 close-in weapons systems 10 torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried:	Up to 30, including: 12 × Yak-38 aircraft 16 × helicopters
Aviation facilities:	Abbreviated angled aft flight deck

The Kiev-class aircraft carriers (also known as Project 1143 or as the Krechyet (Gyrfalcon) class) were the first class of fixed-wing aircraft carriers built in the Soviet Union.

First laid down in 1970 the Kiev class was partially based on a design for a full-deck carrier proposed in Project Orel. Originally the Soviet Navy wanted a supercarrier similar to the American Kitty Hawk-class. However, the smaller Kiev class design was chosen because it was considered to be more cost effective.

Unlike American or British carriers, the Kiev class is a combination of a cruiser and a carrier. In the Soviet Navy this class of ships was specifically designated as a heavy aviation cruiser rather than just an aircraft carrier. Although the ships were designed with a large island superstructure to starboard, with an angled flight deck2/3rds of the length of the total deck, and the foredeck was taken up with the heavy surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missile armament. The intended mission of the Kiev class was support for strategic missile submarines, other surface ships and naval aviation; it was capable of engaging in anti-aircraft, anti-submarine and surface warfare.

A total of four Kiev class carriers were built and commissioned, serving in the Soviet and then Russian Navy. The first three were decommissioned, of which, one was scrapped and two were sold as recreational pieces to China. The fourth ship, Admiral Gorshkov, was sold to the Indian Navy in 2004, and after years of extensive modifications and refurbishment, is currently in active service.

General characteristics

• Designer: Nevskoye Planning and Design Bureau
• Builder: Nikolayev South (formerly Chernomorsky Shipyard 444)
• Power Plant: 8 turbopressurized boilers, 4 steam turbines (200,000 shp), four shafts
• Length: 273 metres (896 ft) overall (283 metres (928 ft) for Baku subgroup)
• Flight Deck Width: 53 metres (174 ft)
• Beam: 32.6 metres (107 ft)
• Displacement: 43,000–45,500 metric tons full load
• Speed: 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
• Aircraft: 26–30
  • 12–13 Yak-38 VSTOL
  • 14–17 Ka-25 or Ka-27/29 helicopters
• Crew: 1,200–1,600 (including air wing)
• Armament:
  • Kiev and Minsk:
    • 4 × twin P-500 Bazalt SSM launchers (8 missiles)
    • 2 × twin M-11 Shtorm SAM launchers (72 missiles)
    • 2 × twin 9K33 Osa launchers (40 missiles)
    • 2 × AK-726 twin 76.2 mm AA guns
    • 8 × AK-630 30 mm CIWS
    • 10 × 21" torpedo tubes
    • 1 × twin SUW-N-1 FRAS Anti-Submarine Rocket launcher
  • Novorossiysk:
    • 4 × twin P-500 Bazalt SSM launchers (8 missiles)
    • 2 × twin M-11 Shtorm SAM launchers (72 missiles)
    • 2 × AK-726 twin 76.2 mm AA guns
    • 8 × AK-630 30 mm CIWS
    • 1 × twin SUW-N-1 FRAS Anti-Submarine Rocket launcher
  • Baku:
    • 6 × twin P-500 Bazalt SSM launchers (12 missiles)
    • 24 × 8-cell 9K330 Tor vertical SAM launchers (192 missiles)
    • 2 × 100 mm guns
    • 8 × AK-630 30 mm CIWS
    • 10 × 21" torpedo tubes
    • 2 × RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launchers
• Date Deployed: 1975 (Kiev)

Ships

Name	Namesake	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Kiev subgroup
Kiev	City of Kiev	Soviet Shipyard No. 444, Mykolaiv	21 July 1970	26 December 1972	28 December 1975	Sold to commercial interest, 1996
Minsk	City of Minsk		28 December 1972	30 September 1975	27 September 1978	Sold to commercial interest, 1995
Novorossiysk	City of Novorossiysk		30 September 1975	26 December 1978	14 September 1982	Broken up at Pohang, 1997
Baku subgroup
Admiral Gorshkov (ex-Baku)	Admiral Flota Sovietskogo Soyuza Sergey Georgiyevich Gorshkov	Soviet Shipyard No. 444, Mykolaiv	17 February 1978	1 April 1982	11 December 1987	Sold to Indian Navy for STOBAR conversion, 20 January 2004. Commissioned as INS Vikramaditya, 16 November 2013.

See also

• Flight deck cruiser
• List of ships of the Soviet Navy
• List of aircraft carriers of Russia and the Soviet Union
• List of ships of Russia by project number

External links

• Article on the Kiev Class (Russian)
• Article in English from FAS
• History of the Kiev (Russian)
• Project 1143 Kiev (Russian)
• Kiev Class Aircraft Carriers
• MaritimeQuest Kiev Class Overview
• History of soviet aircraft carrier development