Re: Russian Carrier Strike Group conducting manuevers in med and Atlantic (many pics)
It would stil be possible to build an improved version of a ship that was never completed, as it is the DESIGN that is being improved upon. The Severomorsk shipyard where the Indian carrier Vikramiditya is (slowly) being converted from a Kiev class ship is the most likely venue for future Russian Carrier construction and the Indian ship is effectively a training program (dry run) for the shipyard, as the work required covers almost all areas of practical experience required to build a carrier from scratch (beyond keel laying and building the hull up to launching stage, much less complicated than the fitting out period). I think any future Russian carrier program will build on experience with the Kuznetzov (ie it will retain STOBAR configuration) though with a view to later CATOBAR upgrade, once the Americans have ironed out all the bugs from EMALS and Russian spies have stolen the secrets! Only Kidding... well maybe. I think they will be looking more at series production as well, since a singular carrier is of little use when it is drydock or otherwise 'off duty' in port. Earlier statements from the Russian Navy's higher echelons about building a class of up to six CVs may not be so fanciful as at first they seemed, though they won't all enter service in quick succession. A spread of more than twenty years is likely, and I would also expect conventional propulsion rather than nuclear to keep costs down. For a given budget nuclear power could mean the difference between ordering six carriers and only two or three, and numbers may prove more desirable than unrefuelled range for Russia as expansion of it's naval forces begins once more.
It would stil be possible to build an improved version of a ship that was never completed, as it is the DESIGN that is being improved upon. The Severomorsk shipyard where the Indian carrier Vikramiditya is (slowly) being converted from a Kiev class ship is the most likely venue for future Russian Carrier construction and the Indian ship is effectively a training program (dry run) for the shipyard, as the work required covers almost all areas of practical experience required to build a carrier from scratch (beyond keel laying and building the hull up to launching stage, much less complicated than the fitting out period). I think any future Russian carrier program will build on experience with the Kuznetzov (ie it will retain STOBAR configuration) though with a view to later CATOBAR upgrade, once the Americans have ironed out all the bugs from EMALS and Russian spies have stolen the secrets! Only Kidding... well maybe. I think they will be looking more at series production as well, since a singular carrier is of little use when it is drydock or otherwise 'off duty' in port. Earlier statements from the Russian Navy's higher echelons about building a class of up to six CVs may not be so fanciful as at first they seemed, though they won't all enter service in quick succession. A spread of more than twenty years is likely, and I would also expect conventional propulsion rather than nuclear to keep costs down. For a given budget nuclear power could mean the difference between ordering six carriers and only two or three, and numbers may prove more desirable than unrefuelled range for Russia as expansion of it's naval forces begins once more.
