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Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, has been under repair for over 7 years. According to Defense Express, it will not be finished in the next year, and given the pace of work and new problems that are arising, it is unlikely that the aircraft carrier will ever be finished with repairs.
This conclusion was made, in particular, due to the fact that the Russians use Su-33 carrier-based aircraft to escort Tu-95MS strategic bombers from the Olenya airfield, and not to train pilots in deck takeoff and landing skills.
"Admiral Kuznetsov" is of great importance for Russian propaganda, as it is the only aircraft carrier that the Russian Federation has. Therefore, the Russians are spending huge amounts of money on its restoration and commissioning as soon as possible, and by the time it is out of repair, they must have pilots ready to perform combat missions from the ship," the publication says.
It is noted that some of the pilots capable of taking off from the deck of an aircraft carrier have already retired, and those who remain and those who perform much lighter flights from land need to undergo appropriate retraining.
“Given that the Russians planned to withdraw the Admiral Kuznetsov from repairs last year, the pilots and their aircraft should already be undergoing training to land on an aircraft carrier. And since the only such training ground is located in the temporarily occupied Crimea, near the city of Saki, these aircraft (Su-33) should be located there, but it turns out that they are not undergoing training, but are still in the north and escorting the Tu-95MS from the Olenya airfield,” Defense Express stated.
Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov – what is known
We will remind, earlier the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that the only Russian aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, is in an emergency condition.
It was noted that the Russian military and shipbuilders are trying to shift responsibility for bringing the ship to a critical state onto each other.
It recently became clear that the cruiser is not capable of moving under its own power at all – its hull is in such critical condition that it is basically impossible to launch it.
