Soviet aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk

Soviet nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk
Class overview
NameUlyanovsk class
BuildersChernomorsky Shipyard 444
Operators Soviet Navy
Preceded byKuznetsov class
Succeeded byProject 23000E
Planned2
Cancelled2
History
Soviet Union
NameUlyanovsk (Russian: Улья́новск)
Ordered11 June 1986
Laid down25 November 1988
Commissioned1995 (planned)
Stricken1 November 1991
FateScrapped at 40% completion 5 February 1992
General characteristics
TypeAircraft carrier
Displacement
  • 65,800 tons standard
  • 75,000 tons full load[1]
Length321.2 m (1,054 ft) overall[1]
Beam
  • 83.9 m (275 ft) overall[1]
  • 40 m (130 ft) at waterline[1]
Draught10.6 m (35 ft)[1]
Propulsion
Speed30 knots (56 km/h)
RangeUnlimited distance; 20–25 years
EnduranceLimited only by supplies
Complement3,400 total[1]
Armament
Aircraft carried

Ulyanovsk (Russian: Улья́новск, IPA: [ʊˈlʲjanəfsk]), Soviet designation Project 1143.7, was a fixed-wing aircraft carrier laid down on 25 November 1988 as the first of a class of Soviet nuclear-powered supercarriers. It was intended for the first time to offer true blue water naval aviation capability for the Soviet Navy. The ship would have been equipped with steam catapults that could launch fully loaded aircraft, representing a major advance over the Kuznetsov class, which could only launch less-loaded aircraft from their ski-jumps. However, construction of Ulyanovsk was stopped at about 40% after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.[2]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Yu.V. Apalkov, "Korabli VMF SSSR", Galeya Print, Sankt-Peterburg 2003
  2. ^ Culp, Wesley. “The Soviets Tried and Failed to Build a Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier to Match US Flattops.” Business Insider, 8 June 2022, https://www.businessinsider.com/the-soviets-tried-failed-to-build-nuclear-powered-aircraft-carrier-2022-6.