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There have been a few edits over the past several hours. Apparently they are thinking of partially sinking it to put it out, but with all the troubles it's given them I don't know why they just drag it out to sea and scuttle it.
Last time it ran air operations was in 2016 off of the coast of Syria. It traveled with an ocean-going tug it case it broke down (again). Left with 10 aircraft: one had to ditch after the arresting cable broke, the second rolled off the deck after the replacement cable failed. The rest landed at Syrian airfields.
To be fair, even when everything is "working" it looks like it is on fire:
To be fair, even when everything is "working" it looks like it is on fire:
I'm shocked that Russia (nee: the USSR) designed and built a conventionally-powered aircraft carrier in the 80s.
I mean, what good is an aircraft carrier if you can't sail it halfway across the world at a moments' notice, with no concerns about on-station duration? The whole point of a carrier is to be able to say "We have just anchored a floating airbase just outside your territorial waters, and will be staying here for as long as we please."
AIUI even the US can't do that because a carrier without its escorts is very vulnerable, and those escorts are all conventionally powered. The Navy had some nuclear cruisers on the 80s, but they've all been retired now.
AIUI even the US can't do that because a carrier without its escorts is very vulnerable, and those escorts are all conventionally powered. The Navy had some nuclear cruisers on the 80s, but they've all been retired now.
True, but escort ships can be cycled on and off station.
Also, defensive carrier group escort is one the principle roles of the US' fleet of attack submarines. And, like the carriers, their only duration limit is the food supply.
Also, a carrier that's out of jet fuel isn't much use.
--Ian
True, but jet fuel can be brought out by an oiler.
I guess that unrep would be possible for the carrier's main bunker tanks as well, that's just a hell of a lot of oil...
I guess I'm just surprised that with so much naval nuclear propulsion experiance under their belts, the USSR would have designed a non-nuclear capital ship in the 80s.
In 1920, the great Nikola Tesla patented this ingenious valve that allows fluid or gas to flow in one direction but not the other. And it does it based entirely on its geometry without any moving parts. Here is the US patent, number 1,329,559.