Summary

  • Russia operates Su-33s and MiG-29KRs on its only carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov.
  • The carrier has been in refit for years with no end in sight; may never return to service.
  • Russian Navy using carrier planes for land-based patrols, suggesting they’ve given up on the carrier.

According to a Telegraph article, Russia is “no longer an aircraft carrier nation.” So this raises the question—what has happened to the carrier’s airwing? What happened to Russia’s carrier-based MiG-29s? Russia is in a pickle. Russia views itself as a great power, and all great powers sport aircraft carriers, so Russia should, too. However, aircraft carriers are very expensive and difficult to operate. Russia inherited (technically stole) the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier as the Soviet Union disintegrated.

The Kuznetsov’s fighter jets

The Telegraph states Russia has two types of modified aircraft to operate off its (only) aircraft carrier. These are the Sukhoi Su-33 (a Flanker derivative) and the MiG-29KR. The Russian Navy acquired 24 each of these aircraft.

A MiG-29K on an airfield apron.

Photo: JetKat | Shutterstock

The Su-33s are the oldest of the two and were meant to retire around 2015. However, it appears some may have been refurbished and modernized and may be in flyable condition. One Su-33 is known to have crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in December 2016 after the carrier’s arrestor cable broke.

The MiG-29KR was ordered as a replacement for the aging Su-33. One MiG-29KB also plummeted into the sea in 2016 while returning to the carrier.

The Telegraph writes that the fact that some of the carrier’s MiGs are being used for land-based patrols indicates the Russian Navy might now think the aircraft will never return to the carrier again. The carrier has been in refit for many years now, and it seems possible (even likely) that she will never be returned to service.

“Perhaps the strongest signal that the navy has all but given up on Kuznetsov, or a near-term replacement, is what it’s doing with the carrier’s planes. The fleet has staged some of the carrier’s 22 Mikoyan MiG-29KRs in northern Russia for land-based air-defense patrols.” – The Telegraph

Adding to this, other MiG-29KRs have been deployed to Crimea – an active warzone. A recent Ukrainian strike on the Belbek Airbase in Crimea was observed by satellite imagery to have destroyed two MiG-31s and damaged several Su-27s. Also, among the wrecked Russian jets was at least one mystery MiG-29. Open-source intelligence on Twitter suggested it was an old, non-functional ex-Ukrainian MiG-29 from when Russia seized Crimea in 2014. However, the Telegraph suggests it was “possibly one of the former carrier planes.

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A carrier cursed from the beginning

The tale of the hapless carrier is one of endless breakdowns and mishaps. She was built in the Ukrainian SSR and designed to operate from Ukrainian ports. Russia has never truly been able to keep her maintained and working. The Admiral Kuznetsov has been in refit for around seven years, and no end is in sight.

Russian warship Admiral Kuznetsov.

Among the impressive list of woes are several fires, the humiliation of always being accompanied by a tug (for when she breaks down), a massive crane slamming into her deck, her dry dock sinking underneath her, and losing two aircraft in three weeks of operations. As another indication that the carrier has no future, The War Zone reported in 2023 that the carrier now has no crew.

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