Russian media reports that Russia might abandon the restoration of its sole aircraft carrier.

According to a report by Russia’s “Newspaper” website on July 11, the Russian Ministry of Defense might abandon the restoration of its sole active aircraft carrier, the “Admiral Kuznetsov”, as reported by the “Newspaper”. It has been learned that the maintenance and modification work on this warship have been temporarily halted.
The report states that representatives from the Navy and the Joint Shipbuilding Group are expected to make decisions regarding the fate of the “Admiral Kuznetsov” soon. Experts do not rule out the possibility of scrapping and dismantling the ship due to technical and physical aging.
Sergei Avakyan, former commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet, told the “Newspaper”: “The decision to stop maintenance is completely correct. If it is decided not to continue with maintenance, the ‘Admiral Kuznetsov’ can only be cut into metal for waste disposal.”
Ilya Kramnik, a researcher at the Strategic Studies Center of the Institute of World Economics and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that aircraft carriers are crucial for the Russian Navy, providing air support for long-distance voyages. He thinks that the “Admiral Kuznetsov” should be replaced by another warship.
This expert explained: “Some people believe that continuing to renovate and maintain the ‘Admiral Kuznetsov’ is not cost-effective. The ship is physically quite old. Its design is outdated, and its power units are not reliable. After 10 years, it will be 50 years old, and even if it could serve until 2040, it would not last long. Therefore, we should combine the experience accumulated from the ‘Admiral Kuznetsov’ to build another warship. We have the capability to do so, and we have shipyards capable of building such vessels.”
The report mentions that since 2017, the “Admiral Kuznetsov” has undergone modernization and renovation, during which several accidents occurred. For example, in 2018, the largest floating dock in Russia sank, causing damage to the vessel. In 2019, there was a major fire on this aircraft carrier. (Translated by/He Yingjun)