Military analyst Alexander Khramchikhin proposed abandoning plans to build new Russian aircraft carriers. In his opinion, the implementation of this program will require significant financial investment and technical effort. Instead, he suggested focusing more on the development of the submarine fleet, unmanned boats, and other types of weapons.
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According to Khramchikhin, two aircraft carriers would require at least 20 escort ships, including cruisers, destroyers, and frigates. This would necessitate new production capacities and additional resources for the manufacture of the ships themselves, their armaments, engines, electronics, and other equipment.
Khramchikhin believes that the creation of aircraft carriers would effectively have to start from scratch, since Soviet aircraft-carrying ships were built in Nikolaev, and modern Russia lacks full-fledged domestic experience in designing and building such ships.
Separate limitations are associated with deck aviation. The «Admiral Kuznetsov» of Project 1143.5 is equipped with a bow ski-jump instead of catapults, which affects the organization of aircraft takeoffs and landings.
According to the military analyst, Russia will also need a new deck fighter, as Soviet deck aircraft cannot indefinitely remain the basis of carrier-based aviation.
The fate of the «Admiral Kuznetsov» itself remains uncertain. According to open data, the ship is at the outfitting quay of the 35th Ship Repair Plant in Murmansk, and the exact date of its return to the Northern Fleet is not determined.
Khramchikhin believes that the presence of two or even four Russian aircraft carriers will not allow competing with the US Navy and NATO in terms of carrier forces. In his opinion, in the event of a major military conflict, the tasks of removing air defense and anti-amphibious defense lines from Russian shores can be solved more cheaply and effectively with the help of aviation, air defense, coastal anti-ship missile systems, and submarines.
As an alternative, the author suggests considering not only the submarine fleet and unmanned boats, but also combat container ships.