Admiral Gorshkov (Baku CVHG-103)

History of Admiral Gorshkov (Baku CVHG-103)

Admiral Gorshkov (formerly "Baku" CVHG-103) is a late Cold War aircraft carrier temporarily serving with the Soviet Navy. The type is based on the Kyiv-class aircraft carrier, led by Kyiv itself and supplemented by sister ships Minsk and Novorossiysk.

Near the end of the Cold War and the final collapse of the Soviet Empire in 1991, the Soviet fleet was in trouble and all four ships were sold. Kyiv and Minsk were sold to China, while Novorossiysk was scrapped.

Baku - renamed Admiral Gorshkov later in her career - was sold to the Indian Navy and is scheduled to return to service as a modified Vikramaditya sometime in 2012.

The Baku was laid at the Ukrainian Shipyard No. 444 in 1978 and has been under construction for several years since. In 1982, the vessel was launched and tested at sea before being officially commissioned in 1987 after the city of Baku, Azerbaijan, under the name "Baku".

The Baku used the name Baku from 1987 to 1991 (then flying the flag of the Soviet Navy), after which the ship was renamed "Admiral Gorshkov" for the remainder of its Russian career (after the collapse of the Soviet Union). ". Her career ended in 1995, after which she refitted and subsequently sold it to India. The name Admiral Gorshkov comes from the Soviet admiral of the same name during the Cold War, Admiral Sergei Gorshkov.

Baku/Admiral Gorshkov's design is a mix of traditional aircraft carrier standards and armed heavy cruisers. The flight deck includes a short stern to port runway designed for short takeoffs and recovery. Most defensive and offensive weapons are located in the bow area - torpedo tubes and deck guns are clearly visible.

The island superstructure is offset to starboard and immediately overhangs the unstructured flight deck to the left. In addition, this model is well-proportioned with clean lines and is designed to traverse the roughest seas in the northern hemisphere.

Admiral Gorshkov manages the wings of 12 x Yakovlev Yak-38 Forger VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft. The Yak-38 is roughly equivalent to the British BAe Sea Harrier, albeit with limited tactical and operational range (only 231 were produced before being phased out in 1991).

The fixed-wing aircraft is equipped with up to 16 Kamov naval helicopters for anti-ship, anti-submarine and general reconnaissance missions.

All Kyiv-class carriers are well defended against air and sea threats. Admiral Gorshkov deployed 6 x 2 P-500 Bazalt surface-to-surface missile launchers for a total of 12 missiles. A 24 x 8 cell 9K330 Tor vertical-launch surface-to-air missile system provides on-demand defense against incoming air threats, with approximately 192 missiles on board. There are two dual-purpose 100mm guns to deal with long-range surface threats, while eight AK-630 series 30mm close-in weapons systems (CIWS) protect the ship from incoming close-range threats.

10 x 21 inch torpedo tubes can be used against enemy naval ships. In this way, Kyiv-class fighters could be used against all types of threatsmore than any typical Western aircraft carrier at the time.

Admiral Gorshkov had a crew of up to 1,600, of which 1,200 were at minimum range. Power comes from an 8 x turbo pressure boiler system giving 200,000 shp to 4 x steam turbines to 4 x shafts. At full load, the ship displaces 45,000 tons.

Baku as a carrier to conduct deck trials of the proposed Yakovlev Yak-141 "Freestyle" Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) aircraft. A boiler explosion in 1994 sent the ship into the dock for necessary repairs, and she did not go to sea again until 1995. Russian authorities retired in 1996 in an attempt to hand over the steel behemoth to an interested - albeit pro-Russian - party.

They found a willing buyer in the Indian Navy, who bought the ship in 2004 for a final price of $2. 3 billion (mainly for overhauls). Retrofit at Russian shipyard, cockpit configuration changed to STOBAR arrangement (STOBAR = "Short takeoff but blocked recovery"). This includes removing the bow mounted gun and installing the ski ramp.

Boilers were also abandoned in favor of conventional diesel-powered turbines.

November 2013 - Admiral Gorshkov was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 16 November 2013 as INS Vikramaditya.

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