Chapter 193： Soviet aircraft carrier

Historically, the development of the Soviet Union's aircraft carrier is also very embarrassing. `

In 1967, the Yakovlev Design Bureau successfully developed the Yak-36 vertical take-off and landing aircraft. The Soviet Air Force and Air Defense Air Force had no interest in this aircraft, but the Navy loved it. Since the British were already working on a "Changsheng"-class medium-sized aircraft carrier capable of carrying "Sea Harrier" vertical take-off and landing aircraft and "Sea King" anti-submarine helicopters, the Soviet Navy could also take this path. At that time, Gorshkov It is proposed that the technical plan of the third "Moscow"-class helicopter carrier should consider letting the Yak-36 on board.

This is not a simple sentence. The Nevsky Design Bureau and the Moscow "Speed" Machine Building Plant Design Bureau jointly completed an assessment of the possibility of deploying and using the Yak-36 aircraft on the "Moscow" class aircraft carrier. The Yak-36 aircraft on the ship is feasible, but it needs to be modified. As a result, the construction of the third "Moscow"-class helicopter carrier was suspended. Construction of the new Type 1143 "Kyiv" class heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers began.

In 1972, the Ministry of Navy, Air Force and Shipbuilding Industry of the Soviet Union concluded after research that it would be meaningless to build an ocean-going fleet without the cover of carrier-based fighter jets, and the carrier-based aircraft should be ordinary aircraft rather than vertical lifts. Land the plane. According to this conclusion, the Nevsky Design Bureau began to implement the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier development program code-named "Eagle". `The design displacement is 80,000 tons, with 70 carrier-based aircraft and 4 steam catapults, which is almost the same as the US aircraft carrier plan.

At this time, the commander-in-chief of the Navy Gorshkov agreed to this plan, but suggested that the tonnage should be smaller and install anti-ship missiles. The following year, Defense Minister Grechko also supported the plan. But at this time Secretary Ustinov suddenly proposed: before implementing the plan, install catapults on the third ship "Novorossiysk" of the "Kyiv" class and supplement the fleet with MiG-23a fighters.

that's it. The super aircraft carrier that could have come out in the 1970s, the "Eagle" postponed the implementation plan, built the "Novorossiysk" as originally planned, and considered building an aircraft carrier of the same size that uses catapults and can carry 36 aircraft.

It was not until 1976 that a new resolution was made with the Council of Ministers to approve the construction of two "large aviation weapon cruisers" with a displacement of 60,000 tons each. Adopt nuclear power plant, install 2 catapults, and carry 50 aircraft and helicopters.

But Admiral Amélico, the Navy's deputy chief of staff, has been a surprising opponent of the standard carrier, proposing to bolster the fleet with Atlantic-class commercial dry cargo ships converted into anti-submarine helicopter carriers. ‘It was just a nonsense idea and of course it was dismissed in the end, but then, a few more years have passed and it’s 80 years. The high-level finally approved the tactical and technical task book of the 40,000-ton conventional-powered aircraft carrier, but the catapult was cancelled, the skid-jump deck was used, and finally, it was expanded to 55,000 tons.

And just like that, standard displacement from 80,000 to 55,000 tons, from nuclear power units to steam turbines, from 4 catapults to none. In this way, the fate of the navy was arbitrarily controlled by these powerful figures who knew little about the navy but were self-righteous, and they made mistakes again and again.

Now. Andrei's proposal was approved by Gorshkov. When the Yak-36 was put on the ship, there was no way. After all, the navy was not valued by the high-level officials. It is impossible to develop a fixed-wing carrier-based aircraft like the US Navy. Even the Jacques-36m can only be picked up off-the-shelf, and it is impossible to develop a special engine for your own use.

but. Andrei's words still revealed a different point of view from Gorshkov's. Andrei's meaning is that as an aircraft carrier, carrier-based aircraft are the most important, and those huge weapons that occupy space should be escorted. of other warships to equip!

"Andre, are you saying that our current Yak-36m carrier-based aircraft cannot meet the operational needs?" asked Admiral Duarte, commander of the Pacific Fleet.

"On this issue, we can ask the pilots of our current aircraft carrier Kyiv." Andrei said: "They have the most say."

"Assef, tell me." Soon, a pilot was found, and it was Assef, the pilot who made a third-class merit in this voyage.

Being stared at by so many leaders, Assef was very uneasy, but when he heard about the performance of the Yak-36m, Assef quickly plucked up his courage: "Report, I think that our fighter jets, In terms of performance, it can't meet the requirements at all. Vertical take-off and landing consumes a lot of fuel, which leads to a short stay time. Almost after take-off, we have to calculate the fuel consumption at any time, so as to avoid insufficient fuel and cannot return to the deck. Due to the limited weight , and can't carry more weapons. Moreover, the vertical take-off and landing process is very complicated, and there are many possibilities for mechanical failure. We have already had a Yak-36m crash, which happened during take-off and landing."

No one likes the Jacques-36m. Later generations have proved that this kind of aircraft is tasteless. Even if the United States has alien-like technology and has come up with a perverted engine such as the f119, it has not been able to solve the series of f-35 vertical take-off and landing aircraft. question.

Asef's courage is commendable. Andrei watched the pilot leave. Gorshkov's face was a little ugly. He was the one who put the Yak-36 on the ship. Now, the response of the troops below is not good. what.

"The Americans' thinking is right, and using catapults to take off fixed-wing fighter jets is the right direction." Andre said: "If our aircraft carrier can also take off and land fixed-wing aircraft, it will be able to contain Americans more effectively. Our aircraft carrier, our Jacques is a living target in front of the American Tomcat fighters. If we cannot compete with the Tomcat fighters for air supremacy, our aircraft carrier will not be able to truly realize our combat effectiveness. The American aircraft carrier formation, relying on carrier-based aircraft, can attack us at a distance of 500 kilometers from the formation, and what about us? Even if our anti-ship missiles can attack targets that far away, it will not work without relay guidance. And with the U.S. Navy in control of the air, our guidance helicopters are vulnerable."

Vertical take-off and landing aircraft are an appetizer in front of conventional fighter jets, that is, things like Argentina. They can only be a few Sea Harriers. If they run into the Soviets, the Sea Harriers will take off as soon as they take off, and don't even think about falling back.

"Andrei, you're right." Gorshkov said, "However, we still need to work hard to make the high-level people realize the benefits of fixed-wing carrier-based aircraft."

The high-level ideas are still not unified, and building a new aircraft carrier is a long way to go.

"I have a solution," Andrei said. "We can make our senior leadership aware of the role that fixed-wing aircraft can play in carrier operations. In this way, our fourth Kyiv-class aircraft carrier can be stopped. Build and rebuild a new type of aircraft carrier." (To be continued.)

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