 Model of the Soviet nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ulyanovsk class |
| Builders | Chernomorsky Shipyard 444 |
| Operators |  Soviet Navy |
| Preceded by | Kuznetsov class |
| Succeeded by | Project 23000 |
| Planned | 2 |
| Canceled | 2 |
| History | |
 Soviet Union | |
| Name | Ulyanovsk (Russian:Улья́новск) |
| Ordered | 11 June 1986 |
| Laid down | 25 November 1988 |
| Commissioned | December 1995 (planned) |
| Stricken | 1 November 1991 |
| Fate | Scrapped at 40% completion 5 February 1992 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Aircraft carrier |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 321.2 m (1,054 ft)overall[1] |
| Beam | |
| Draught | 10.6 m (35 ft)[1] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Range | Unlimited distance; 20–25 years |
| Endurance | Limited only by supplies |
| Complement | 3,400 total[1] |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried |
|
Ulyanovsk (Russian:Улья́новск,IPA:[ʊˈlʲjanəfsk]),Soviet designationProject 1143.7, was aSTOBARaircraft carrier laid down at the now-defunctBlack Sea Shipyard on 25 November 1988 as the first of aclass ofnuclear-poweredsupercarriers for theSoviet Navy. It was intended for the first ship to offer trueblue waternaval aviation capability for theSoviet Union, as the ship would have been equipped with twosteam catapults that could launch heavierfixed-wing aircraft, representing a major advance over the comparatively smallerKuznetsov class, which could only launch lighter/partly loaded aircraft via abowski-jump. However, construction ofUlyanovsk was stopped at about 40% due to thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the unfinishedhull was laterscrapped in early 1992.[2]
TheSoviet Union's Nevsky Engineering Design Bureau developed the third-generationheavy aircraft cruiserKuznetsov withSu-33 in the 1980s (Plan 1143.5/Order 105) and theVaryag aircraft carrier (Plan 1143.6/Order 106), at the same time, in December 1984, the construction of the fourth-generation large-scale nuclear-powered heavy aircraft cruiser began. The plan number was "Plan 1143.7", and the preliminary design was completed in 1986. On November 25, 1988, construction for "Order 107" ― namedUlyanovsk ― officially began at theBlack Sea Shipyard.
To this end, the Soviet government allocated funds to carry out the second large-scale technical transformation of the Black Sea Shipyard, including:
Due to thedissolution of the Soviet Union, the amount of funding to complete the carrier was insufficient, and the aircraft carrier construction plan was suspended. As of November 1991, Ulyanovsk was only 40% complete.
The No. 2 ship "Plan 1143.8" originally planned to be built was also cancelled at the same time.
Ulyanovsk was based upon the 1975Project 1153 Orel, which did not get beyond blueprints. The initial commissioned name was to beKremlin, but was later given the nameUlyanovsk[3] after the Soviet city ofUlyanovsk, which was originally named Simbirsk but later renamed afterVladimir Lenin's original name because he was born there.
It would have been 85,000 tonnes indisplacement (larger than the olderForrestal-class carriers but smaller than contemporaryNimitz class of theU.S. Navy).Ulyanovsk would have been able to launch the full range of fixed-wing carrier aircraft, as it was equipped with twocatapults as well as aski jump. The configuration would have been very similar to U.S. Navy carriers though with the typical Soviet practice of addinganti-ship missile (ASM) andsurface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers. Itshull was laid down in 1988, but construction was cancelled at 40% complete in January 1991 and a planned second unit was never laid down.[1]
In accordance with Decree No. 69-R of February 4, 1992, signed by theFirst Deputy Prime Minister of UkraineKostyantyn Masyk, on February 5, 1992, scrapping of the ship's hull structures began. By October 29, 1992, the slipway was free, and the ship (order 107) had ceased to exist.
TheUlyanovsk air group was to include 68 aircraft with the following planned composition:[1]
The ship was to be equipped with two "Mayak"steam catapults made by theProletarian Factory in Leningrad, a ski-jump, and fourarresting gear. For storing aircraft, it was to have a 175×32×7.9-m hangar deck with aircraft elevated to theflight deck by three elevators with carrying capacities of 50 tons (two on thestarboard side and one on the port). Thestern was intended to house the "Luna" optical landing guidance system.
