} ''Ulyanovsk'' ( rus, Улья́новск, p=ʊˈlʲjanəfsk), Soviet designation Project 1143.7, was a

fixed-wing A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct ...

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

laid down on 25 November 1988 as the first of a class of Soviet nuclear-powered

supercarrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a n ...

s. It was intended for the first time to offer true

blue water Maritime geography is a collection of terms used by naval military units to loosely define three maritime regions: brown water, green water, and blue water. Definitions The elements of maritime geography are loosely defined and their meanings hav ...

naval aviation Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

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 , 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 The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

in 1991.

History

Background

The

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

's Nevsky Engineering Design Bureau developed the third-generation heavy aircraft cruiser

Kuznetsov Kuznetsov, Kuznyetsov, Kuznetsoff, or Kouznetsov (masculine, russian: Кузнецов) or Kuznetsova (feminine, russian: Кузнецова) is the third most common Russian surname, an equivalent of the English "Smith" (derived from a Russian word ...

with

Su-33 The Sukhoi Su-33 (russian: Сухой Су-33; NATO reporting name: ''Flanker-D'') is an all-weather carrier-based twin-engine air superiority fighter designed by Sukhoi and manufactured by Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association, ...

in the 1980s (plan 1143.5/order 105) and the Varyag 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 to be constructed. The plan number was "Plan 1143.7", and the preliminary design was completed in 1986. On November 25, 1988, the "Order 107" named "Ulyanovsk" was moved to the shipyard, which was in charge of construction at the

Black Sea Shipyard The Black Sea Shipyard ( uk, Чорноморський суднобудівний завод; russian: Черноморский судостроительный завод) is a shipbuilding facility in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on the southern tip of ...

. To this end, the Soviet government allocated funds to carry out the second large-scale technical transformation of the

, including the construction of an assembly and welding workshop, allowing the hull to be increased in sections to 200 tons; A 350-ton self-propelled flatbed truck was built, and a transport lane from the new workshop to the slipway was built; the length of No. 0 slipway was lengthened by 30 meters; a horizontal slipway-side platform with a total weight of 1,700 tons was built. The slipway and slipway-side platform were installed. Two gantry cranes each with a lifting capacity of 900 tons, and other new cranes were installed, so that the number of cranes used on the entire slipway reached 10; A Liman River channel was completed to ensure that the Ulyanovsk would be able to go to sea in the future.

Ending

Due to the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

's funding was insufficient, and the aircraft carrier construction plan was suspended. Until 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.

Design

''Ulyanovsk'' was based upon the 1975 Project 1153 Orel, which did not get beyond blueprints. The initial commissioned name was to be ''Kremlin'', but was later given the name ''Ulyanovsk'' after the Soviet town of

Ulyanovsk Ulyanovsk, known until 1924 as Simbirsk, is a city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Population: The city, founded as Simbirsk (), was the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin (born ...

, which was originally named Simbirsk but later renamed after

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

's original name because he was born there. It would have been 85,000

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s in

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

(larger than the older carriers but smaller than contemporary of the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

). ''Ulyanovsk'' would have been able to launch the full range of fixed-wing carrier aircraft, as it was equipped with two

catapults A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of stored ...

as well as a

ski jump Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

. The configuration would have been very similar to U.S. Navy carriers though with the typical Soviet practice of adding

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good ...

(ASM) and

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

(SAM) launchers. Its hull was laid down in 1988, but construction was cancelled at 40% complete in January 1991 and a planned second unit was never laid down. In accordance with Decree No. 69-R of February 4, 1992, signed by the

First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine is a government post of the Cabinet of Ukraine. In the absence of the prime minister of Ukraine, the first vice prime minister performs his or her duties as the acting prime minister. In 1991, the post was gr ...

Kostyantyn Masyk Kostyantyn Masyk ( uk, Костянтин Іванович Масик) is a Ukrainian state official and diplomat. Masyk was born in Volochysk on 9 July 1936. A graduate of the Gorky Institute of Water Transport Engineers, his working career Mas ...

, 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.

Air group

The ''Ulyanovsk'' air group was to include 68 aircraft with the following planned composition: * 44 fighter aircraft, combination of

Sukhoi Su-33 The Sukhoi Su-33 (russian: Сухой Су-33; NATO reporting name: ''Flanker-D'') is an all-weather carrier-based twin-engine air superiority fighter designed by Sukhoi and manufactured by Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association ...

(Su-27K) and

Mikoyan MiG-29K The Mikoyan MiG-29K (russian: Микоян МиГ-29K; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum-D) is a Russian all-weather carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft developed by the Mikoyan Design Bureau. The MiG-29K was developed in the late 1980s from ...

fighters * 6 Yakovlev Yak-44 RLD

Airborne early warning Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

aircraft * 16

Kamov Ka-27 The Kamov Ka-27 (NATO reporting name 'Helix') is a military helicopter developed for the Soviet Navy, and currently in service in various countries including Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, China, South Korea, and India. Variants include the Ka-29 ...

Anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

helicopters * 2 Ka-27PS

Air-sea rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and International Maritime Organization, IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergenc ...

helicopters The ship was equipped with two "Mayak" steam catapults made by the Proletarian factory, a ski-jump, and 4

arresting gear An arresting gear, or arrestor gear, is a mechanical system used to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands. Arresting gear on aircraft carriers is an essential component of naval aviation, and it is most commonly used on CATOBAR and STOBA ...

. For storing aircraft, it had a 175×32×7.9-m hangar deck with aircraft elevated to the

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters ...

by 3 elevators with carrying capacities of 50 tons (two on the

starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...

side and one on the port). The

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

housed the "Luna" optical landing guidance system.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *

External links

Hazegray.org entry

GlobalSecurity.org.

Robin J. Lee. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulyanovsk Aircraft carriers of the Soviet Navy Ships built at the Black Sea Shipyard Ships built in the Soviet Union Cancelled aircraft carriers Abandoned military projects of the Soviet Union