Would it be cheaper to build 2 40k ton STOBAR CVL from scratch than converting the 2 Ex-Kievs?

proelite

Junior Member
Not using the INS vikramaditya's cost for reference since it was obvious that the Indian Navy got scammed. For reference 2.35 billion.

How much did the refitting of Liaoning cost?
 

Intrepid

Major
It was only one Ex-Kiev converted. And a new carrier is build from scratch. And that was done in India. I don't understand the question.
 

Tam

Brigadier
Registered Member
There are one or two rusting Kievs sitting in some harbor in China. Maybe these should be sold to India.

Cost of dismantling of an aircraft carrier turns out to be very expensive, $1.5 billion for the USS Enterprise.
 

proelite

Junior Member
There are one or two rusting Kievs sitting in some harbor in China. Maybe these should be sold to India.

China should convert the two ex-kiev for better cheaper and faster than Russia. Sell 1 to Pakistan and the other to Iran. Or both to Pakistan. That should help to keep the peace in the Indian ocean.
 

Tam

Brigadier
Registered Member
China should convert the two ex-kiev for better cheaper and faster than Russia. Sell 1 to Pakistan and the other to Iran. Or both to Pakistan. That should help to keep the peace in the Indian ocean.


One problem with the Kievs based on their conversion to museums or casino, is that it gets terribly hot aboard these ships which drives away customers and lower their revenue, resulting in failed venture. Now no one wants them, and the businesses can't afford to scrap them. Those ships don't seem to have good air conditioning and needs a huge makeover in that regard. I won't be surprised that these ships stay near the Arctic Circle all the time and the last thing they need would be air conditioning. But Indian Ocean, different matter.

There is going to be a lot of work needed to be done on these ships.
 

proelite

Junior Member
One problem with the Kievs based on their conversion to museums or casino, is that it gets terribly hot aboard these ships which drives away customers and lower their revenue, resulting in failed venture. Now no one wants them, and the businesses can't afford to scrap them. Those ships don't seem to have good air conditioning and needs a huge makeover in that regard. I won't be surprised that these ships stay near the Arctic Circle all the time and the last thing they need would be air conditioning. But Indian Ocean, different matter.

There is going to be a lot of work needed to be done on these ships.

Hmm, fix them up and set them to Russia? :p
 

mys_721tx

Junior Member
Registered Member
One problem with the Kievs based on their conversion to museums or casino, is that it gets terribly hot aboard these ships which drives away customers and lower their revenue, resulting in failed venture. Now no one wants them, and the businesses can't afford to scrap them. Those ships don't seem to have good air conditioning and needs a huge makeover in that regard. I won't be surprised that these ships stay near the Arctic Circle all the time and the last thing they need would be air conditioning. But Indian Ocean, different matter.

There is going to be a lot of work needed to be done on these ships.

I visited Minsk in Shenzhen as a kid. It was
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that a lot of facilities onboard were either demolished or vandalized during deactivation process, rendering it unfit for military service. In the refit to become a museum ship, the pluming, ventilation, and electricity systems on Minsk were rebuilt from scratch. Kiev reportedly was in a much better condition.
 

H2O

Junior Member
Registered Member
China should convert the two ex-kiev for better cheaper and faster than Russia. Sell 1 to Pakistan and the other to Iran. Or both to Pakistan. That should help to keep the peace in the Indian ocean.

I believe it would be cheaper to sell a modified Type 075 than to waste time in refurbishing those rust buckets. Does China have the blueprints for the Kiev-class carriers?
 

plawolf

Lieutenant General
One thing no-one seem to be considering is airwing.

The Kiev’s were designed for STOVL jets even though the USSR didn’t have a very capable design available.

J15s would be way too big for the Kiev’s, you will probably struggle to fit even a dozen onboard. Are the hanger and elevators even able to handle aircraft that big?

Also, the Kiev’s are now literally rust buckets. The hull degradation is probably far too advanced to be able to easily fix, so even if you do refurbish them, you won’t get many years service lives out of them.

Far far better to build new, although I am not sure just how useful 40kt pocket carriers would be in this day and age. Such ships would not have able to carry enough aircraft to hold their own against land based opposition or any of the other carriers currently in operation.

If Iran or Pakistan bought such ships, they would honestly be more liability than asset, since their principle opponents would be able to easily launch attacks far more powerful than such ships could reasonably be expected to defend against. The cost of such ships and their escorts would pretty much be the entire naval budge of both navies, so loose those ships will pretty much mean their entire navies are wiped out in one go.

It would be far more cost effective for both to invest that money in SSKs instead.
 
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