WHO WINS ? RUSSIAN ADMIRAL KUZNETSOV vs USS CARL VINSON
INTRODUCTION:
Admiral KUZNETSOV aircraft carrier is serving as the flagship of the Russian Navy. The ship was named after Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov who served in the Soviet Navy during The Second World War.
This was launched in 1985 and commissioned in 25 December 1990. The ship has been deployed in many operations, and was recently involved in Syrian campaign.
USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) is the third United States Navy Nimitz-class super carrier and is named after Carl Vinson, a Congressman from Georgia, in recognition of his contributions to the US Navy. The ship was launched in 1980, and was commissioned on 13 March 1982.
It has been deployed in Operation Desert Strike, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Southern Watch, and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Notably the body of Osama bin Laden was buried at sea in 2011 from the deck of the Carl Vinson.
In this video, Defense Updates compares the 2 aircrafts carriers based on 5 key aspects, and provides an unbiased conclusion.
So, let us get started.
DESIGN:
Size has undeniable impact on the capability of any aircraft carrier as it determines the number of aircrafts that it can operate.
Admiral Kuznetsov’s air wing of 30 fighters falls well short of Nimitz class capability to hold over 65 jets.
It can be easily inferred that USS Carl Vinson has a distinct advantage over the Admiral Kuznetsov’s.
SPEED & ENDURANCE:
As a result of the use of nuclear power, the ship is capable of operating continuously for over 20 years without refueling, and are predicted to have a service life of over 50 years.
Clearly USS Carl Vinson has huge advantage in terms of propulsion technology, and Admiral Kuznetsov is no match for it in this category.
AIRCRAFTS:
Admiral Kuznetsov carry MiG-29K and Su-33 fighter planes. These are 4th generation aircrafts and very capable and have been
USS Carl Vinson strike fighters are primarily F18 Hornets, and F18 Super Hornets. These are twin-engine carrier-capable 4th generation multirole fighter aircrafts.
US is also going to operate F35 C (carrier variant) soon. The F-35C carries nearly 20,000 pounds of internal fuel for longer range and better persistence than any other fighter in a combat configuration.
LAUNCH MECHANISM:
Admiral Kuznetsov uses ski ramp to assist aircraft takeoffs. USS Carl Vinson uses a more efficient steam-powered catapult system to launch aircraft.
Ski-jump aircraft carriers have limitations, regarding how much ordnance can be loaded.
Though carrier operators can bypass the inherent tradeoff between carrying internal fuel and weapons on the aircraft, using midair refueling, the practice remains difficult to execute.
Clearly USS Carl Vinson has distinct advantage in this category.
RADAR, WEAPONS & ARMOUR:
Admiral Kuznetsov is equipped with 3D air surface search radar over the main mast, and four multifunctional APAR (active phased array radar) panels.
Plans to upgrade the aircraft carrier call for obsolete Granit missile systems to be replaced with 3S14 universal launch systems.
Then the carrier can be outfitted with Kalibr-NK class cruise missiles, Onyx supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles and the Zircon advanced hypersonic missiles, which reached speed of 8 Mach in recent test
Especially the Zircon missile integration will provide Admiral Kuznetsov with excellent offensive capability.
CONCLUSION:
Russia’s aircraft carrier was excellent piece of engineering when it was created, but the ship has already done three decades of service and is on its last legs. Frequent breakdown bear the fact that it need major overhaul.
As evident from the comparison, USS Carl Vinson is far ahead of Admiral Kuznetsov in terms of inbuilt technology as well as the overall ecosystem but with planned upgrade the Admiral Kuznetsov will have most dreaded cruise missile Zircon in its armor which levels the playing field to a great extend.
The new Russian aircraft carrier "Shtorm" will be included in Russia’s next armament program for the 2019 to 2025 period. The nuclear power super carrier will have displacement of 100000 tones and will be able to carry 90 aircrafts. The aircraft carrier will go into service in the navy by 2030.
Ford class super-carriers are being built by US to replace some of the United States Navy's existing Nimitz-class carriers. They are envisaged to be the most powerful carrier in the world and will start to be commissioned from next year.
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