[Excelsior]

(07-14-2012 11:07 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  

^^^

Wow, I'm surprised Russia only has one carrier. Could that be inaccurate? China maybe not quite as surprised, but I thought Russia would have more than one.

Kuznetsov is their only carrier. There were to be two members of that class of ship, but the Soviet Union collapsed before they could finish the second. That vessel, which would have been called "Varyag", belongs to China now, as you can see on that graphic. Russia sold it to them as-is (incomplete) and the Chinese finished the job themselves.

Russia after the end of the Cold War was in very dire straits as far as finances went. Even before the fall, the Soviet Union faced quite a few financial issues with its military, issues that Gorbachev tried to deal with. These only got worse after the collapse. The military suffered greatly during the 90's and is still recovering even now, rebuilding morale, experience (ex: many Russian pilots got very few flight hours at times after the USSR, weakening proficiency), inventory, and readiness. That they would only have a single aircraft carrier isn't all too surprising given how often that military has taken it on the chin during the past two decades.