Forbes: In 2025, Russia Will Finally Lose Its Only Aircraft Carrier
- 1.01.2026, 13:18
"Admiral Kuznetsov" has repeatedly become an object of ridicule in the media.
After eight years of continuous repairs, accidents and billions of dollars in costs, Russia has stopped modernizing its only aircraft carrier, the Admiral of the Soviet Union's Kuznetsov Fleet, effectively leaving it without an operational carrier force, writes columnist Forbes Peter Suchu.
Even a year ago, Russian state media claimed that the Admiral Kuznetsov would be back in service in 2025, despite numerous delays, fires and accidents. The ship had been undergoing modernization since July 2018 and was long seen in the Kremlin as a symbol of Russia's status as a maritime power.
The modernization was halted in the summer of 2025, however, and the decision was made to mothball the aircraft carrier in the fall. Thus Russia has effectively lost its only aircraft carrier, which already has not been on a combat voyage since 2017.
Ship from another era
The Kuznetsov was designed at the end of the Cold War as a "heavy aircraft carrier cruiser" - not as a mobile airbase, but as a cover element for Soviet submarine missile carriers. It carried Su-33 fighters, Ka-27 helicopters, and was armed with anti-ship cruise missiles.
In contrast to Western aircraft carriers, the ship had no catapults - planes took off from a ramp, which significantly limited combat capabilities. In addition, the carrier ran on fuel oil, leaving behind its characteristic thick black smoke, which was repeatedly mocked in Western media.
The former commander of Russia's Pacific Fleet, Admiral Sergei Avakyants, called the ship "very expensive and inefficient" in July.
The Kuznetsov is from another era. The future lies in robotic systems and drones," he said, calling the aircraft carrier's decommissioning "absolutely the right step."
Chronic accidents and corruption
The Admiral Kuznetsov has earned a reputation as a troubled ship over its years of service. In 2009 there was a fatal fire on board, in 2018 a 70-ton crane fell onto the deck, and in 2019 another fire killed two people.
Infrastructural problems also complicated the repair: the accident of the PD-60 floating dock, financial mismanagement and corruption scandals. In 2021, the director of one of the shipyards was arrested for embezzling funds allocated for the ship's repairs.
Despite regular Russian media claims of "progress," the aircraft carrier never left dry dock.
Russia without an aircraft carrier
Analysts note that against the backdrop of the war against Ukraine, Russia cannot afford an expensive and time-consuming aircraft carrier modernization project, especially given the lack of an extensive network of overseas bases.
A September report by the U.S. Naval Institute noted that the decision to mothball the Admiral Kuznetsov was expected, even despite the image losses.