Originally posted by ASTAC
Actually...the slope allows heavier take off weight...for the harriers anyway...looking for the source now.
ASTAC, I think what Ack Ack was refering to is the same thing that Gunslinger was refering to: You can't put as much weight into the air with a ramp as you can with a catapult.
In looking into the Kuznetsov (and the Varyag which is the carrier referenced in this thread) really gives you a window into the Long range plans the Soviets had when the wheels came off the Commie train.
While US Naval Doctrine focuses on power projection, the Soviet's focused most of their resources on Submarine warfare. The bulk of their surface assets were geared towards ASW operations, and this includes their Sea going naval aviation units. If you look at the actual and planned Avation ships, you can see a very clear evolution.
The first operational Aviation ships in the Soviet fleets were the Helo-Carriers "Moskva" and "Lenningrad." These were som ugly bellybutton ships. But they provided the utility of having a dozen or so ASW Helos. I imagine they also carried one or two OTH targeting Helo's as well, but I'm not sure about that. The point being, this first step in Seagoing Aviation was primarily to serve as an ASW platform.
The Second step in their evolution were the Kiev class ships. These were the first to carry fixed wing aircraft. The Yak-38 was as ugly an airplane as the Moskva was an ugly ship. But I would suggest that the Kiev was still primarily an ASW support ship. The meat of the aviation wing was geared towards the same Ka-25/27 units that were on the Moskva ships. While the Yak-38 has some a2g/anti-ship capabilities, I believe they were primarily relied on to provide fleet air defense. We used to joke about them comming equiped with Hull mounted sonar since they spent so much time in the drink.
That brings us to the Varyag.
These ships carry conventional fixed wing aircraft, and this is a first for Russian aviation. However, they are still very limited in capability. I don't have a lot of research on it, but according to John Pike over at globalsecurity.com, they can not launch heavily loaded planes which precludes the use of ground attack varients of the Su-33, and limits them to an Air Defense role. Obviously the Su-33 is a significant upgrade over the Yak-38, yet still the Ship is limited in its ability to project power. But just as important as providing improved fleet air defense, these ships were going to pave the way for the next generation of ships. The Kuznetsov and Varyag would be used to train a cadre of Carrier pilots who would man the next two ships to come off the lines.
These are the ships that were never built. The Soviet plan was to build actual fleet carriers with a full flight deck including catapults. The Varyag and Kuznetsov would still be used as Air defense carriers, but the new CVs would have a much greater offensive capability.
Thats my $.2 anyhow.
-Sik
