Moskva-class helicopter carrier

Leningrad underway in 1990.
Class overview
Name	Moskva class
Operators	Soviet Navy  Russian Navy
Succeeded by	Merkuryy Delfin Khalzan class Kiev class
Subclasses	Project 11780
Built	1962–1969
In service	1967–1996
Planned	3-12[1]
Completed	2
Cancelled	1
Retired	2
General characteristics [2]
Type	Helicopter cruiser
Displacement	11,920 tons standard 15,280 tons full load
Length	189 m (620 ft)
Beam	34 m (112 ft)
Draught	7.7 m (25 ft)
Propulsion	2 × 45000 hp TV-12 steam turbines, 2 × fixed pitch propellers, 2 × 1500 kW TD-1500 turbine-type generators, 2 × 1500 kW diesel-generators
Speed	28.5 knots (53 km/h)
Range	9,000 nautical miles (16,668 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Endurance	15 days
Complement	850
Sensors and processing systems	MR-600 'Voskhod'/MR-310 'Angara-A' air/surface radar 'Don' navigation radar 'Gurzuf'/'Gurzuf-1' ESM radar system MRP-11-16 'Zaliv' ESM radar system 'Kremniy-2M' IFF ARP-50 radio direction finder MG-342 'Orion' or MG-325 'Vega' sonar MG-26 'Khosta' underwater communication system MVU-201 'Koren-1123' combat information control system
Armament	2 × twin SA-N-3 'Goblet' surface-to-air missile launchers 2 × twin 57 mm (2.2 in)/80 guns 1 × SUW-N-1 launcher for FRAS-1 anti-submarine missiles 2 × RBU-6000 ASW rockets 10 × 553 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes (2 × 5) 2 × ZIF-121 rocket launchers (PK-2 decoy)
Aircraft carried	18× Kamov Ka-25 'Hormone' or Mi-8 helicopters
Aviation facilities	Hangar deck

The Moskva class, Soviet designation Project 1123 Kondor (condor) and S-703 Project 1123M Kiev, was the first class of operational aircraft carriers (helicopter cruisers in the Soviet classification) built by the Soviet Union for the Soviet Navy.^[3]

These ships were laid down at Nikolayev South (Shipyard No.444). The lead vessel was launched in 1965 and named Moskva (Russian: Москва, lit. 'Moscow'); she entered service two years later. Moskva was followed by Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград, lit. 'Leningrad', which was commissioned in late 1968; there were no further vessels built, reportedly due to the poor handling of the ships in rough seas. Both were conventionally powered.

The Moskvas were not true "aircraft carriers" in that they did not carry any fixed-wing aircraft; the air wing was composed entirely of helicopters. They were designed primarily as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) vessels, and her weapons and sensor suite was optimized against the nuclear submarine threat. Their strategic role was to defend the Soviet ballistic missile submarine bastions against incursions by Western attack submarines, forming the flagships of an ASW task force.^{[citation needed]}

Design

The operational requirement was issued by Admiral Sergey Gorshkov in 1959. The aim of the ships was to counter NATO Polaris submarines and act as a flagship for anti-submarine warfare. Initially it was hoped to operate ten helicopters from an 8000-ton ship. The design evolved into a larger vessel capable of operating up to 14 helicopters with self defence armament.

Armament

Shipboard ASW armament included a twin  SUW-N-1 launcher capable of delivering a FRAS-1 projectile carrying a 450-millimetre (18 in) torpedo (or a 5 kiloton nuclear warhead); a pair of RBU-6000 ASW mortars; and a set of torpedo tubes. For self-defence, the Moskvas had two twin SA-N-3 surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers with reloads for a total of 48 surface-to-air missiles, along with two twin 57 mm (2.2 in) /80 guns.

Propulsion

Gas turbines were considered but were as yet untried in such a large vessel. Instead a high pressure steam plant similar to that used by the Kynda-class cruisers was used. The machinery of Moskva had severe problems and had to be rebuilt in 1973 following a fire. Operational performance was disappointing with a practical maximum speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) and 24-knot (44 km/h; 28 mph) maximum sustainable speed. Sea keeping was also disappointing.

Ships

Both vessels were part of the Black Sea Fleet. Leningrad was retired in 1991 and Moskva in 1996. Leningrad was scrapped in 1995 and Moskva in 1997. A third ship to be named Kiev was cancelled in 1969, which was to have been an anti-surface warfare vessel. The Moskva class was succeeded by the larger Kiev class.

See also

• List of ships of the Soviet Navy
• List of ships of Russia by project number

References

Citations

Sources

• Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. London: Conway Maritime. ISBN 0-85177-605-1. OCLC 34284130. Also published as Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen; Budzbon, Przemysław (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7. OCLC 34267261.

External links

• Moskva class - Complete Ship List
• Project 1123 Kondor - Moskva class on globalsecurity.org
• (in Russian) Moskva class

This page was last edited on 23 January 2023, at 11:22