Italeri 0518 Admiral Kuznetsow

Admiral Kuznetsov (full name: Admiral Fłota Sovietskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov) is a modern Russian, and formerly Soviet, aircraft carrier with classic propulsion. The keel for this unit was laid in 1983, the launch took place in December 1985, and commissioning took place in 1991. The total length of the ship is 306.5 meters, the overall width is 72 meters, and the full displacement is about 59,100 tons. The maximum speed, shortly after launching, did not exceed 30 knots. The on-board armament currently includes: P-700 Granit missile launchers, 24 Kinżał missile launchers, 8 Kortik sets or 6 30 mm AK-630M sets. An aircraft carrier can take up to 50 aircraft on board, but most often its air group consists of 30 aircraft and helicopters. Admiral Kuznetsov (former names: Riga, Leonid Brezhnev, Tbilisi) is the only constructed aircraft carrier of Project 1143.5. It was and still is one classic aircraft carrier built for the Soviet and Russian fleets. The unit was designed and built as a logical continuation of the Moscow and Kiev class ships. Despite the fact that, unlike them, it has a smooth flight deck, Admiral Kuznetsov does not have steam catapults, but uses the so-called the ski-jump jump (STOBAR system). For this reason, its combat capabilities associated with the air group are quite clearly limited and are significantly inferior to American Nimitz-class aircraft carriers or - even more - Gerald Ford. In the period 2007-2014, the unit operated mainly in the Mediterranean Sea, and in 2015-2016 it took part in the civil war in Syria.