Ancient history

Moskva-class helicopter carrier cruiser

Moskva-class helicopter carrier cruiser

The Moskva Class or Project 1123/Kondor, is a class of helicopter carrier cruiser of the Soviet Navy. It is composed of 2 units, the Moskva and the Leningrad. They were built by the Nikolayev shipyards from 1962 to 1965. Like the other helicopter carrier cruisers of the time (the Italian Andrea Doria and Vittorio Veneto, the French Jeanne d'Arc), the Moskvas had their armament grouped together on the foredeck, massive superstructures and a vast flight deck aft surmounting the two hangars.

Study project


The genesis of Project 1123

At the end of the Second World War, the USSR had perfectly understood the impact of the aircraft carrier within the framework of the naval war, many projects were even studied and planned but the difficulties were innumerable for the defenders of the aircraft carriers in the Soviet Navy. First there were the technical difficulties; the countries that had aircraft carriers in the 1920s and 1930s can attest to this, the acquisition of a real naval air capability requires a lot of financial means, know-how and intelligence. To which was added the political context in the USSR; the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics having defined itself as an anti-imperialist country, it was difficult for the Soviet navy to ask for the construction of ships that were symbols of so-called imperialism, Krushchev even speaking of a weapon of aggression. Finally, the geographical framework of the USSR did not serve the pro-aircraft carriers since the Soviet Navy had to fight either in closed seas (Baltic, Black Sea), or difficult to access for aircraft carriers (Arctic Glacial Ocean); only the Pacific was a favorable playing field. All aircraft carrier projects were stopped anyway by the dismissal on December 8, 1955 of Admiral Kuznetsov, their main lawyer. It was only twenty years later that aircraft carrier studies would resume in the USSR with Orel and Ulyanovsk, the only real Soviet aircraft carriers that would never be completed.

However, the Soviet Navy was not totally closed to innovations and all the admirals, including the first of them, Admiral Gorckhov, understood the usefulness of the helicopter in anti-submarine warfare (ASM) . To be able to strike American ballistic missile submarines, the USSR imagined a class of helicopter carrier cruisers which after several years of study would lead to the Moskva class helicopter carriers.

Project 1123 Moskva/Kondor

The first project envisaged the reuse of a Sverdlov-class cruiser hull which was to have 23 ships but only 14 were completed, 9 hulls being available. In January 1959, Admiral Gorckhov asked for the study of a ship project capable of fighting submarines on the high seas within a hunting group, the ship in question having to assume command. The first project gave a building of 4,500 tons, spinning at 35 knots (65 km/h) and being able to embark 8 Kamov Ka-25 with a reduced defensive armament. On August 18, 1959, the central construction office proposed to increase the number of helicopters on board from 8 to 14 and to reinforce the anti-submarine and anti-aircraft armament, which brought the tonnage to 8,000 tons and reduced the speed at 32 knots (59 km/h). Project 1123 Kondor was officially launched on January 25, 1960 with no less than eight variants:four with various propulsion systems, three with different armament and reduced tonnage and even one with a catamaran hull.

The final project was stopped on September 29, 1960 with the same propulsion as the Kynda class cruisers. However, research continued, a sign of a certain indecision within the upper echelons of the Soviet Navy, giving birth to sixteen new variants, the tonnage continuing to increase until the final technical characteristics were decided on November 28. 1963, when the construction of the Moskva had already begun in Nikolayev.

Technical description

The Moskva flight deck was 86 meters long and 34 meters wide. A hangar at the end of this bridge could accommodate two helicopters side by side. The flight deck had three attachment points and 4 landing spots numbered 1 to 4, a fifth spot marked with the letter P occupying the central space. Two aircraft elevators 16.5 m long by 4.5 m wide connected it to a steerage 50 m long by 22 wide. The steerage could accommodate up to 18 Kamov Ka-25s, although generally only 14 aircraft were on board.

Technical features

Type Helicopter cruiser
Length 189.1 m
Maître-bau 34.1 m
Draft 7.6 m
Displacement 14,900 tonnes
Deadweight 17,500 tonnes (full load)
Propulsion 4 high pressure boilers, 2 steam turbines, 2 propellers
Power 100,000 hp
Speed ​​ 30 knots (56 km/h)

Military features

Aircraft 18 Kamov Ka-25 PLO/PS helicopters
Range of action 6,000 nautical miles (11,112 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h)

Other features

Crew 804 officers, non-commissioned officers and sailors

Manufacturers Chernomorsky Nikolaev
Served in Soviet Navy
Sponsor Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Command start date 1960
Construction period 1962 - 1965
Period of service 1967 - 1991
Ships built 2
Planned ships 3
Cancelled ships 1
Ships in operation 0
Lost Ships 0
Laid up ships 2
Demolished ships 2

Armament characteristic description

M-11 Chtorm system:2 B-187A dual ramps for V-611 surface-to-air missiles (SA-N-3 Goblet) / 96 missiles
Vikhr system:1 MS-18 dual ramp for ASM 82-R (SUW-N-1) missiles / 48 missiles
2 twin turrets of 57 mm AK-725
2 twin turrets of 30 mm AK- 230 (landed)
2 × RBU-6000 Smertch 2 250mm ASM rocket launchers / 120 rockets
2 × 533 Torpedo Tube Quintuple Platforms mm PTA-53-1123 (landed in the 1970s because unusable)

Electronics

1 x MR-600 Voskhod (“Top Sail”) three-dimensional air surveillance radar
1 x MR-310 Angara-A (“Head Net C”) three-dimensional air surveillance radar
2 Grom fire control radars ("Head Light A") for surface-to-air missiles
2 MR-103 Bars fire control radars ("Muff Cob") for the '57 mm artillery
3 Vaigatch (“Don 2”) navigation radars
1 Gourzouf (“Side Globe”) electronic warfare system
1 Zaliv electronic warfare system (2 "Bell Clout", 2 "Bell Slam", 2 "Bell Tap", 2 "Top Hat")
2 PK decoy launchers -2 (replacing the AK-230)
1 MG 342 Orion hull sonar (“Moose Jaw”)
1 MG-325 Vega towed sonar (“Mare Tail")
2 IFF systems Nikel-KM and Krom-KM ("High Pole A" and "B")


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