Dec 02 2008
Russia Plans New Aircraft Carriers
Recently, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced a plan for their navy to begin production on a new line of aircraft carriers. The designs differ from traditional American carriers in that they are smaller and hold less aircraft. They are also armed with additional missiles and feature strong defense against air attacks. By utilizing this technology, these aircrraft cruisers will be able to respond to situations alone without support, unlike the U.S. carriers which need their entire strike force.
Medvedev made the public announcement on October 14 aboard Russia’s only functional aircraft carrier, the Nikolai Kuznetsov. The military has a target launch date of 2013 to add aircraft cruisers to both its Arctic and Pacific fleets.
During the 1980s, the Soviet Union moved its naval construction to focus on submarines and aircraft carriers, however, with the collapse of the communism, the navy was essentially mothballed due to a lack of necessity as Russia focused on its land operations to secure its borders.
The focus of Russia to rebuild its navy with a modern arsenal represents a strong shift in global power. With Russia’s recent actions in Georgia and threats to place missile batteries in Europe, the nation has proven it no longer has the intention of remaining a second tier military.
