Russia’s Only Aircraft Carrier Constantly Under Repair, Becoming a Global Laughing Stock

At its best, the Soviet Union had nine aircraft carriers, but now Russia has only one left — the Kuznetsov.

Not only that, the Kuznetsov needs small repairs every two days and big repairs every three days, just to keep Russia’s status as a country with an aircraft carrier.

With Russia’s military strength, can’t they fix it? Why can’t they just make a new one?

Kuznetsov’s Rough Start

In 1946, the Soviet Union wanted to build aircraft carriers but decided to stop because of a change in leaders and the American idea that “aircraft carriers are useless.” They focused on making atomic bombs instead. So, the Kuznetsov was delayed by almost twenty years.

It wasn’t until 1963, when the Soviet Union saw the United States using eight aircraft carriers, that they realized they were tricked. They decided to start making aircraft carriers again. But this first aircraft carrier wasn’t the Kuznetsov. It was a helicopter anti-submarine cruiser with poor performance.