The ''Moskva'' class, Soviet designation Project 1123 ''Kondor'' (

condor Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua language, Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. One species, the And ...

) and ''S-703'' Project 1123M Kiev, was the first class of operational helicopter carriers ( helicopter cruisers in the Soviet classification) built by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

for the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

.Jordan, John, 'Soviet Warships 1945 to Present', Revised & Expanded Edition, , Published by Arms & Armour Press (London, UK), 1992 These ships were laid down at Nikolayev South (Shipyard No.444). The lead vessel was launched in 1965 and named (); she entered service two years later. ''Moskva'' was followed by (, 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 ''Moskva''s were not true "aircraft carriers" in that they did not carry any

fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft (in which a rotor mounted on a spinning shaft generate ...

; the air wing was composed entirely of

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

s. They were designed primarily as

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

(ASW) vessels, and her weapons and sensor suite was optimized against the nuclear submarine threat. Their strategic role was to defend the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

ballistic missile submarine A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. These submarines became a major weapon system in the Cold War because of their nuclear deterrence capabi ...

bastions against incursions by Western

attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants, and merchant vessels. In the Soviet Navy, Soviet and Russian Navy, Russian navies ...

s, forming the flagships of an ASW task force.

As a result, the Moskva-class shouldn't be seen as an "aircraft carrier" in the traditional sense, as it wasn't designed to carry any fixed-wing aircraft. Instead its air wing was composed entirely of helicopters. The vessels were also designed primarily for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) role – to counter the NATO Polaris submarines – and to act as flagship for other ASW warships. As such the weapons and sensor suite was fully optimized against a nuclear submarine threat. Moreover, instead of serving as part of the nation's force projection, the Soviet doctrine called for the warships to serve in a strategic role that included defending the Soviet ballistic missile submarine bastions against incursions by Western attack submarines.

Design

The operational requirement was issued by Admiral Sergey Gorshkov in 1959. The aim of the ships was to counter

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Polaris Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris (Latinisation of names, Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an ...

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 torpedo (or a 10 kiloton nuclear warhead); a pair of RBU-6000 ASW mortars; and a set of

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s. For self-defence, the ''Moskva''s had two twin SA-N-3

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

(SAM) launchers with reloads for a total of 48 surface-to-air missiles, along with two twin /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 s 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 and maximum sustainable speed. Sea keeping was also disappointing.

Ships

Both vessels were part of the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

. ''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 Anti-surface warfare (ASuW or ASUW) is the branch of naval warfare concerned with the suppression of surface combatants. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an adversary's ...

vessel. The ''Moskva'' class was succeeded by the larger .

References

Citations

Sources

* Also published as

External links

Moskva class - Complete Ship List

*
''Moskva'' class
{{Soviet and Russian ships after 1945 Helicopter carrier classes Moskva class helicopter carrier