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"Since the USSR and Russia has had little opportunity to build these skills, and none to test them in combat, any strike missions from the Kuznetsov would be li

"Since the USSR and Russia has had little opportunity to build these skills, and none to test them in combat, any strike missions from the Kuznetsov would be limited and mostly for show." This fact impacted the Sino carrier program [0] so much that it the Sino scrapping of the RAN, HMAS Melbourne (R21) [1] in 1980, was delayed to study the steam catapult system. It was launched as a Majestic Class in 1943 and retro-fitted to launch the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Uncle served on the Melbourne and I got to take a look around the Melbourne just before RIMPAC78. Two years later it was scrapped. and towed off to China. Reference [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Chinese_aircraft_carrier#ex-HMAS_Melbourne https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Chinese_aircraft_carrie... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Melbourne_(R21) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Melbourne_(R21)

engi_nerd 10y ago
I'm not a carrier suitability expert but I have directly participated in flight testing for carrier suitability, including TC-7 steam catapult testing. The basic idea behind the steam catapult is really simple, but building and operating one is not. I'm not surprised that any nation who hasn't built a steam catapult would need to do some research to make their fist working catapult.
- bootload 10y ago
  " The basic idea behind the steam catapult is really simple, but building and operating one is not. I'm not surprised that any nation who hasn't built a steam catapult would need to do some research to make their fist working catapult." I'd agree, the point I was hinting at was the limitations of the Russian Carriers impact on the Sino effort. India has a similar problem, cf the second hand Vikramadity [0] (chain supply and re-fit problems) and even the new INS Vikrant shows the inability to build a steam-catapault based design instead opting for a ski ramp. As a result the choice of jet is the MiG29 K instead of the Su33. The complexity and cost of building a carrier with a steam catapult capable of launching aircraft the size used in the USN appears, to be beyond both China and India. [0] https://warisboring.com/this-old-aircraft-carrier-is-a-damned-embarrassment-d18a4bd13fd3 https://warisboring.com/this-old-aircraft-carrier-is-a-damne... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_MiG_29K_aircraft_lands_on_INS_Vikramaditya.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_MiG_29K_aircraft_lands_... https://warisboring.com/this-old-aircraft-carrier-is-a-damned-embarrassment-d18a4bd13fd3 https://warisboring.com/this-old-aircraft-carrier-is-a-damne...

engi_nerd 10y ago

I'm not a carrier suitability expert but I have directly participated in flight testing for carrier suitability, including TC-7 steam catapult testing. The basic idea behind the steam catapult is really simple, but building and operating one is not. I'm not surprised that any nation who hasn't built a steam catapult would need to do some research to make their fist working catapult.

bootload 10y ago
" The basic idea behind the steam catapult is really simple, but building and operating one is not. I'm not surprised that any nation who hasn't built a steam catapult would need to do some research to make their fist working catapult." I'd agree, the point I was hinting at was the limitations of the Russian Carriers impact on the Sino effort. India has a similar problem, cf the second hand Vikramadity [0] (chain supply and re-fit problems) and even the new INS Vikrant shows the inability to build a steam-catapault based design instead opting for a ski ramp. As a result the choice of jet is the MiG29 K instead of the Su33. The complexity and cost of building a carrier with a steam catapult capable of launching aircraft the size used in the USN appears, to be beyond both China and India. [0] https://warisboring.com/this-old-aircraft-carrier-is-a-damned-embarrassment-d18a4bd13fd3 https://warisboring.com/this-old-aircraft-carrier-is-a-damne... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_MiG_29K_aircraft_lands_on_INS_Vikramaditya.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_MiG_29K_aircraft_lands_... https://warisboring.com/this-old-aircraft-carrier-is-a-damned-embarrassment-d18a4bd13fd3 https://warisboring.com/this-old-aircraft-carrier-is-a-damne...