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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia's lone aircraft carrier likely to be scrapped or sold, says shipbuilding chief
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia's only aircraft carrier, the 40-year-old Admiral Kuznetsov, is likely to be sold or scrapped, the chairman of Russia's state shipbuilding corporation told the Kommersant newspaper in comments published on Friday. Andrei Kostin's remarks follow a report in the daily Izvestia newspaper earlier this month, which cited unnamed sources as saying long-running refit and maintenance work on the warship had been suspended. Launched in 1985 when the Soviet Union still existed, the Admiral Kuznetsov saw action in Russia's military campaign in Syria in support of then-President Bashar al-Assad, with its planes carrying out airstrikes against rebel forces. But it has played no role in the war in Ukraine and has been out of service since 2017, undergoing modernisation in the Murmansk area close to where Russia's Northern Fleet is based. Efforts to overhaul it have suffered repeated accidents and setbacks. Asked about its fate on Thursday on the sidelines of a flag-raising ceremony for a new nuclear submarine in northwestern Russia, Kostin made it clear that a final decision had not yet been taken, but suggested that the Admiral Kuznetsov was no longer worth spending money on. "We believe there is no point in repairing it anymore. It is over 40-years old, and it is extremely expensive ... I think the issue will be resolved in such a way that it will either be sold or disposed of," Kostin was quoted as saying by Kommersant. Detailed information about the combat readiness of individual warships is regarded as sensitive by Moscow and the Russian Defence Ministry does not comment on such matters. Russian naval veterans and experts are divided on the prospect of the warship being scrapped, with some telling Izvestia it is obsolete, and others saying it or a successor would provide a capability that Russia needs. The aircraft carrier gained notoriety in Britain when then-Secretary of Defence Michael Fallon dubbed it the "ship of shame" in 2017 when it passed close to the English coast on its way back from the Mediterranean belching black smoke. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia's lone aircraft carrier likely to be scrapped or sold, says shipbuilding chief
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia's only aircraft carrier, the 40-year-old Admiral Kuznetsov, is likely to be sold or scrapped, the chairman of Russia's state shipbuilding corporation told the Kommersant newspaper in comments published on Friday. Andrei Kostin's remarks follow a report in the daily Izvestia newspaper earlier this month, which cited unnamed sources as saying long-running refit and maintenance work on the warship had been suspended. Launched in 1985 when the Soviet Union still existed, the Admiral Kuznetsov saw action in Russia's military campaign in Syria in support of then-President Bashar al-Assad, with its planes carrying out airstrikes against rebel forces. But it has played no role in the war in Ukraine and has been out of service since 2017, undergoing modernisation in the Murmansk area close to where Russia's Northern Fleet is based. Efforts to overhaul it have suffered repeated accidents and setbacks. Asked about its fate on Thursday on the sidelines of a flag-raising ceremony for a new nuclear submarine in northwestern Russia, Kostin made it clear that a final decision had not yet been taken, but suggested that the Admiral Kuznetsov was no longer worth spending money on. "We believe there is no point in repairing it anymore. It is over 40-years old, and it is extremely expensive ... I think the issue will be resolved in such a way that it will either be sold or disposed of," Kostin was quoted as saying by Kommersant. Detailed information about the combat readiness of individual warships is regarded as sensitive by Moscow and the Russian Defence Ministry does not comment on such matters. Russian naval veterans and experts are divided on the prospect of the warship being scrapped, with some telling Izvestia it is obsolete, and others saying it or a successor would provide a capability that Russia needs. The aircraft carrier gained notoriety in Britain when then-Secretary of Defence Michael Fallon dubbed it the "ship of shame" in 2017 when it passed close to the English coast on its way back from the Mediterranean belching black smoke.
CNA
4 days ago
- Politics
- CNA
Russia's lone aircraft carrier likely to be scrapped or sold, says shipbuilding chief
MOSCOW: Russia's only aircraft carrier, the 40-year-old Admiral Kuznetsov, is likely to be sold or scrapped, the chairman of Russia's state shipbuilding corporation told the Kommersant newspaper in comments published on Friday (Jul 25). Andrei Kostin's remarks follow a report in the daily Izvestia newspaper earlier this month, which cited unnamed sources as saying long-running refit and maintenance work on the warship had been suspended. Launched in 1985 when the Soviet Union still existed, the Admiral Kuznetsov saw action in Russia's military campaign in Syria in support of then-President Bashar al-Assad, with its planes carrying out airstrikes against rebel forces. But it has played no role in the war in Ukraine and has been out of service since 2017, undergoing modernisation in the Murmansk area close to where Russia's Northern Fleet is based. Efforts to overhaul it have suffered repeated accidents and setbacks. Asked about its fate on Thursday on the sidelines of a flag-raising ceremony for a new nuclear submarine in northwestern Russia, Kostin made it clear that a final decision had not yet been taken, but suggested that the Admiral Kuznetsov was no longer worth spending money on. "We believe there is no point in repairing it anymore. It is over 40 years old, and it is extremely expensive ... I think the issue will be resolved in such a way that it will either be sold or disposed of," Kostin was quoted as saying by Kommersant. Detailed information about the combat readiness of individual warships is regarded as sensitive by Moscow and the Russian Defence Ministry does not comment on such matters. Russian naval veterans and experts are divided on the prospect of the warship being scrapped, with some telling Izvestia it is obsolete, and others saying it or a successor would provide a capability that Russia needs. The aircraft carrier gained notoriety in Britain when then-Secretary of Defence Michael Fallon dubbed it the "ship of shame" in 2017 when it passed close to the English coast on its way back from the Mediterranean belching black smoke.
Reuters
4 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Russia's lone aircraft carrier likely to be scrapped or sold, says shipbuilding chief
MOSCOW, July 25 (Reuters) - Russia's only aircraft carrier, the 40-year-old Admiral Kuznetsov, is likely to be sold or scrapped, the chairman of Russia's state shipbuilding corporation told the Kommersant newspaper in comments published on Friday. Andrei Kostin's remarks follow a report in the daily Izvestia newspaper earlier this month, which cited unnamed sources as saying long-running refit and maintenance work on the warship had been suspended. Launched in 1985 when the Soviet Union still existed, the Admiral Kuznetsov saw action in Russia's military campaign in Syria in support of then-President Bashar al-Assad, with its planes carrying out airstrikes against rebel forces. But it has played no role in the war in Ukraine and has been out of service since 2017, undergoing modernisation in the Murmansk area close to where Russia's Northern Fleet is based. Efforts to overhaul it have suffered repeated accidents and setbacks. Asked about its fate on Thursday on the sidelines of a flag-raising ceremony for a new nuclear submarine in northwestern Russia, Kostin made it clear that a final decision had not yet been taken, but suggested that the Admiral Kuznetsov was no longer worth spending money on. "We believe there is no point in repairing it anymore. It is over 40-years old, and it is extremely expensive ... I think the issue will be resolved in such a way that it will either be sold or disposed of," Kostin was quoted as saying by Kommersant. Detailed information about the combat readiness of individual warships is regarded as sensitive by Moscow and the Russian Defence Ministry does not comment on such matters. Russian naval veterans and experts are divided on the prospect of the warship being scrapped, with some telling Izvestia it is obsolete, and others saying it or a successor would provide a capability that Russia needs. The aircraft carrier gained notoriety in Britain when then-Secretary of Defence Michael Fallon dubbed it the "ship of shame" in 2017 when it passed close to the English coast on its way back from the Mediterranean belching black smoke.
Newsweek
6 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
US Spy Plane Sweeps Russia's Western Flank
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A U.S. spy plane has swept across NATO's northern flank—near major military bases in northwest Russia—flight tracking data shows, marking the latest flight by NATO surveillance aircraft close to Russian soil. A U.S. Air Force (USAF) RC-135V Rivet Joint aircraft took off from a base in eastern England on Tuesday for a roughly 12 hour flight, first traveling north over Norway before nearing Russia's Murmansk region, data from publicly available flight tracking platform FlightRadar24 shows. The aircraft reached the area northeast of the Russian town of Severomorsk before turning back and returning to the U.K. via Finland, the Baltic states that are pressed up against Russia, Poland, Germany and then the Netherlands. It skirts around Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad, a wedge of Russian soil squeezed between Lithuania and Poland, tracking data indicates. Russia's northwestern Murmansk region borders NATO member Finland, and is home to the country's formidable Northern Fleet. The Northern Fleet plays a major role in Russia's nuclear arsenal. An RC-135W Rivet Joint and two F-35 Lightnings fly over The Mall during a flypast to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day in London, England, on May 5, 2025. An RC-135W Rivet Joint and two F-35 Lightnings fly over The Mall during a flypast to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day in London, England, on May 5, has a number of military bases and airfields around the city of Murmansk and nearby Severomorsk, the home of the main Northern Fleet headquarters and a major submarine base. The Olenya airbase, hosting long-range Russian bombers, is north of Severomorsk, and Russia has in recent years modernized its Severomorsk-1 naval airbase. Gadzhiyevo, another major submarine base, sits north of Murmansk and Severomorsk. The U.S. and the U.K. have both operated Rivet Joint aircraft in eastern Europe in recent weeks. A British Royal Air Force (RAF) RC-135 flew an almost identical flight path through Europe up to Murmansk last week. The Boeing RC-135 aircraft hoovers up what is known as signals intelligence, or SIGINT, which can come from a variety of sources, like written messages or data from weapons and radar systems. Iterations of the RC-135 have been in use with the U.S. military for decades. The USAF Rivet Joint, identified on FlightRadar24 by the call sign, "JAKE 17," took off from the U.K. base of Mildenhall at 7 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET) on Tuesday, and landed back at the same base at just after 7 p.m. U.K. time (2 p.m. ET). The USAF's fleet of RC-135s have been "hard pressed of late with urgent demands for SIGINT collection at U.S.-Mexico border, East Asia, eastern Europe, and the Middle East," Olli Suorsa, an assistant professor in homeland security at the government-owned Abu Dhabi-based Rabdan Academy, previously told Newsweek.
