Admiral Kuznetsov in Flames: Russia’s Sole Carrier Suffers Another Disaster

The Russian Navy's sole aircraft carrier, the 65,000 ton warship Admiral Kuznetsov, has reportedly experienced a serious fire onboard while undergoing an extensive refit at shipyards in Murmansk. According to Russian media reports, eight people were rescued from the area with three sustaining serious injuries and one missing. It has been reported that safety violations caused the fire. This represents only the latest of many mishaps with the Admiral Kuznetsov, which in October 2018 suffered serious damage from a falling crane while in dry dock. It remains uncertain whether damage from this incident has yet been repaired. The warship has been prone to breakdowns at sea due to issues with its propulsions, an issue which should be solved with the current refit, and has also suffered reliability issues with its carrier air wing - losing two fighters to landing accidents while providing air support in the Syrian theatre in 2016.

The Russian Navy is currently considering commissioning a new class of heavy carrier, possibly a nuclear powered supercarrier, to replace the Admiral Kuznetsov in the 2030s. Based on the Kuznetsov’s service history however, it is likely that a future carrier could face many of the same issues. Two other carriers based on the Kuznetsov design, but integrating more modern subsystems, are currently in service with China's armed forces - and neither have had comparable issues with maintenance or with their air wings. This indicates that issues are caused not by a fault in the warship’s design - but rather by issues with Russia’s maintenance infrastructure and possibly the training of its operational and maintenance crews. Cost cutting measures during maintenance may also be to blame, and were also cited as a leading potential cause of the warship’s prior accident in October 2018. It remains uncertain when the Admiral Kuznetsov will return to sea, whether a comprehensive refit can improve its performance, and how long the class will remain in service before a replacement can be commissioned into service.