Project 1153 Orel

Project 1153 Orel (Russian: Орёл pr: "Or'yol", Eagle) was a late 1970s plan to give the Soviet Navy a true blue water aviation capability. The aircraft carrier would have about 72,000 tons displacement, with a nuclear power plant and about 70 aircraft launched via steam catapults, similar to the earlier Kitty Hawk-class supercarriers of the U.S. Navy. Unlike them and the preceding Soviet aircraft cruisers, it was also designed with a large offensive capability; the ship mounts including 24 vertical launch tubes for anti-ship cruise missiles.[1] The Soviets classified it as a "large cruiser with aircraft armament".[2]

  1. ^ "russiafile.com". russiafile.com. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
  2. ^ Balakin, S., Zablotskiy, V. Sovyetskiye avianoscy. Avianesushchiye kreysera admirala Gorshkova. Moscow, 2007. ISBN 978-5-699-20954-5 (in Russian). P.153-154