Article Summary: The Ulyanovsk was the Soviet Union’s answer to the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class carriers, featuring nuclear propulsion, steam catapults, and a 70-aircraft wing. Designed for true blue-water operations, it was meant to surpass the Kuznetsov-class carriers.
Key Point #1 – However, economic collapse and the Cold War’s abrupt end sealed its fate. Only 20% complete, it was scrapped in 1992 to make room for commercial ships.
Key Point #2 – While the Soviet Union dreamed of carrier dominance, the project’s cancellation left Russia reliant on the troubled Admiral Kuznetsov—cementing the U.S. Navy’s carrier superiority for decades to come.
The Ulyanovsk: The Soviet Supercarrier That Never Was
One of the Soviet Union’s most ambitious naval projects was the unrealized Ulyanovsk aircraft carrier of the Soviet Navy.
Laid down in 1988, near the end of the Cold War, the nuclear-powered carrier would have given the Soviet Union a true, robust blue water naval capability and a formidable naval aviation component.
Thanks to the end of the Cold War and subsequent scrapping, the Ulyanovsk never came to be — instead, it was broken apart to make space for commercial, and therefore profitable, vessels.
An article from the time of the aircraft carrier’s construction and scrapping shed some light on the project.
“Carrier overhauls are low on the list of issues being argued by the governments of Russia and Ukraine. More critical at this time is the future of the two unfinished carriers at Nikolayev, the Varyag—the second ship of the Kuznetsov class—and the still larger Ul’yanovsk. The latter was to have displaced some 75,000 tons full load and have nuclear propulsion.”
“The Russian government had claimed that the unfinished carriers belonged to Russia because it paid for their construction; Ukraine claimed that the unfinished ships at the Black Sea Shipyard belonged to it. Western intelligence sources—primarily satellite photography—indicate that work ceased on the two carriers about November 1991,” the article explained.
It added that “the U.S. Navy states that scrapping of the Ulyanovsk—some 20% complete— began on 3 February 1992, to provide space in the massive Nikolayev graving dock for building merchant ships.”
The Ulyanovsk would have incorporated some of the design considerations that went into the United States carrier fleet — lessons learned from the Soviet Navy’s number one rival. Like the American counterparts, the Ulyanovsk would have been equipped with steam catapults to launch fully loaded, fixed-wing aircraft. It would have also boasted a large, nearly 70-plant flight wing and a significant step up from the 30 to 50 planes carried by the Kuznetsov-class aircraft carriers.
Ulyanovsk: An Ambitious — Perhaps Impossible — Aircraft Carrier Project
An article in the Naval War College Review summarized the U.S. Navy’s thinking about the large carrier at the time it was being built in Soviet shipyards.
“Fourth, we have been encouraged to reflect on the new large Soviet nuclear carrier now being fitted out in the Black Sea,” the report explained. “The Soviet Navy is completely without experience or tradition in large carrier operations. Their internal structure is more rigid and more formal than ours and with far less on-the-job training, especially for enlisted personnel.”
“It will be very interesting to watch their workup time, deck loading, and casualty rates. Of course, it is not clear that they will be trying to emulate U.S. carrier operations rather than the somewhat different style and objectives of the British or French. In either case, we estimate a minimum of several workups (each taking perhaps two or three years) before they begin to approach the deck loads and sortie rates of comparable Western carriers and, unless they are remarkably lucky, there will be some loss of lives in the learning process.”
The last footnote in the article ends rather bluntly. “As a group, we doubt they [the Soviet Navy] will be able to approach the operating conditions and efficiency of U.S. carriers in this century, if at all, even if they master the associated naval and aircraft technologies.”
An Ignominious End
In the end, the end of the Cold War and hostilities between the American-aligned West and the Soviet Bloc was a final nail in the supercarrier’s coffin.
With the almost overnight evaporation of the risk of all-out war, pouring millions of rubles into an aircraft carrier became untenable, ultimately dooming the project.
Aircraft Carriers: Pictures Through the Ages
Seven aerial photographs showing the major different modernizations of the U.S. Navy Essex-class aircraft carriers
A U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 115 launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) in the western Pacific Ocean Nov. 11, 2017. The Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt and Nimitz strike groups are underway conducting flight operations in international waters as part of a three-carrier strike force exercise. The U.S. Pacific Fleet has patrolled the Indo-Pacific region routinely for more than 70 years promoting regional security, stability and prosperity.
China’s first aircraft carrier. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
An F-35C Lightning II, assigned to the “Argonauts” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147, launches off the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) during Annual Exercise (ANNUALEX) 2021.
Thirteen U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 122, Marine Aircraft Group 13, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), are staged aboard the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) as part of routine training in the eastern Pacific, Oct. 8, 2019. Integrating 3rd MAW’s combat power and capabilities while conducting realistic training is essential to generate readiness and lethality in our units. (U.S. Marine Corps photo illustration by Lance Cpl. Juan Anaya)
Sailors and Marines man the rail as three harbor tugs push the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) away from Pier 11 at Norfolk Naval Base on Oct. 3, 1997, for a scheduled six-month deployment. The George Washington will relieve the USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) to conduct operations in the Mediterranean Sea. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Vickers, U.S. Navy.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
