Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Chong Lot Travel Agency prepares to tow their newly purchased and rusting Varyag through the Istanbul Straits in late 2001.

Varyag was to be an Admiral Kuznetsov class multirole aircraft carrier. She was known as Riga^[1] when her keel was laid down at Nikolayev South (formerly Shipyard 444) in Nikolayev December 6, 1985,^[2] and she was launched December 4, 1988, but she was renamed Varyag (Varangian) in late 1990, after a famous Russian cruiser.

Construction stopped by 1992 with the ship structurally complete but without electronics. Ownership was transferred to the Ukraine as the Soviet Union broke up and the ship was laid up unmaintained, then stripped. In early 1998, she lacked engines, a rudder, and much of her operating systems. She was put up for auction.

Currently the ship is being examined and repaired by China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) after purchasing it at auction^{[citation needed]}. It was widely reported that the ship would become a casino in the Chinese SAR of Macau. This has been proven incorrect as the ship is in a PLAN drydock in Dalian. It has been painted PLAN grey.Many analysts believe that the ship will be used for training as China builds an indigenous aircraft carrier with greater capability.

1 Role
2 Sold at auction
3 Towed to China
4 Three years later
5 Speculation
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Role

Su-33 'Flanker-D' on board Admiral Kuznetsov

While designated an aircraft carrier by the West, the design of the Admiral Kuznetsov' class implies a mission different from that of either the United States Navy’s carriers or those of the French Navy. The term used by her builders to describe the Russian ships is tyazholiy avianesushchiy kreyser (TAKR or TAVKR) - “heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser” - intended to support and defend strategic missile-carrying submarines, surface ships, and maritime missile-carrying aircraft of the Russian fleet. This designation allows the Soviet/Russian Navy to circumvent the refusal by Turkey to let aircraft carriers pass the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Fixed-wing aircraft on Admiral Kuznetsovs are essentially constrained to air superiority operations. Were Varyag to become operational, it would have also carried for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations, as well as anti-ship missiles.

[edit] Sold at auction

In April 1998, Ukrainian Trade Minister Roman Shpek announced the winning bid—$20 million USD from a small Hong Kong company called the Chong Lot Travel Agency Ltd. Chong Lot proposed to tow Varyag out of the Black Sea, through the Suez Canal and around southern Asia to Macau, where they would moor the ship and convert it into a floating hotel and gambling parlor.^[2] It would be similar to the attractions Kiev in Tianjin and Minsk at Minsk World in Shenzhen.

However, considerable evidence suggested that the future of Varyag is linked to the People's Republic of China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and its program to develop an aircraft carrier.

Before the auction was closed, officials in Macau had warned Chong Lot that they would not be permitted to berth Varyag in the harbor. The sale was carried out anyway. Chong Lot is owned by a Hong Kong firm called Chin Luck (Holdings) Company. Four of Chin Luck's six board members live in Yantai, China where a major Chinese Navy shipyard is located. Chin Luck's chairman is a former career military officer with the People's Liberation Army.^[2] However, the large involvement of former PLA officers is not necessarily a sign that the firm is a cover organization, because, for historical reasons, it is not unusual in mainland China for a company that actually is involved in tourism or travel to be controlled by former PLA officers.

However, the People's Republic of China's interest in Varyag is puzzling. Due to the poor condition of the hulk, it is thought highly unlikely that the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) will commission the carrier; rather, many analysts suggest that the PLAN intends to examine the carrier as a model for an indigenous carrier to be built later. Others counter that the carrier does not represent modern technology; the PLAN could probably have learned all they needed from Varyag without towing it all the way to China.^[2]

[edit] Towed to China

Varyag under tow.

In mid-2000, the Dutch ITC tugboat Suhaili with a Filipino crew was hired to take Varyag under tow. However, Chong Lot could not get permission from Turkey to transit the dangerous Bosporus strait—in addition to safety issues, the Montreux Treaty of 1936 does not allow aircraft carriers to pass the Dardanelles—and the hulk spent 16 months circling in the Black Sea. High-level PRC government ministers conducted negotiations in Ankara on Chong Lot's behalf, offering to allow Chinese tourists to visit cash-strapped Turkey if the travel agency's ship were allowed to pass through the straits. On 1 November 2001, Turkey finally relented from its position that the vessel posed too great of a danger to the bridges of Istanbul, and allowed the transit.

Escorted by 27 vessels including 11 tug boats and three pilot boats, Varyag took six hours to transit the strait; most large ships take an hour and a half. The Russian press reported that 16 pilots and 250 seamen were involved. At 11:45am on 2 November, she completed her passage and made for Gallipoli and Çanakkale at 5.8 knots. She passed through the Dardanelles without incident.

On November 3, Varyag was caught in a force 9 gale and broke adrift while passing the Greek island of Skyros. Sea rescue workers tried to re-capture the hulk, which was drifting toward the island of Evia. The seven-member crew (three Russians, three Ukrainians and one Filipino) remained on board as six tugboats tried to reestablish their tow. However, after many failed attempts to reattach the lines, a Greek coast guard rescue helicopter landed on Varyag and picked up four of the seven crew. One tug managed to make a line fast to the ship later in the day, but high winds severely hampered efforts by two other tugs to secure the ship. On 6 November, Aries Lima (reported as both Dutch and Portuguese), a sailor from the tug Haliva Champion, died after a fall while attempting to reattach the tow lines. On 7 November, the hulk was taken back under tow and progress resumed at some three knots.

The Suez Canal does not permit passage of "dead" ships—those without power—so the hulk was towed through the Straits of Gibraltar, around the Cape of Good Hope, and through the Straits of Malacca. The tugs towing the hulk maintained an average speed of 6 knots over the 15,200 nautical mile journey, calling for bunkers and supplies at Piraeus, Greece, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Maputo, Mozambique, and Singapore en route. They entered Chinese waters on 20 February 2002, and arrived 3 March at Dalian Shipyard in northeastern China. China continued to assert that Varyag would be a casino. However, when Macau awarded new casino licenses in February 2002, Chong Lot was not among successful bidders. The hulk was tied up at Dalian and left to rust. The total cost of acquiring the hulk was over $30 million USD: $25 million to the Ukrainian government for the hull, nearly $500,000 in transit fees, and some $5 million for the towing.

[edit] Three years later

After little activity for three years, Varyag was moved in early June 2005 to a dry dock at Dalian. Her hull was sandblasted and scaffolding erected around her. The only statement that could be obtained from Chinese officials is that she is being maintained for military purposes — not entertainment or any other private enterprise. The most visible modification done to the Varyag is that her island has been painted in a red marine primer that is used to treat corroded metal.

[edit] Speculation

Analysts believe that the PLAN will use Varyag as a training platform for carrier take-offs and landings. Robert Karniol, the Asia editor of Jane's Defence Weekly, said: "The Chinese haven't seen this type of carrier before and it could be very useful to them. They are trying to vacuum up as much know how as they can." Liu Huaqing, a senior admiral of the PLAN and proponent of naval modernization, has spoken of the 21st century as the "century of the sea" and called for naval modernization over several decades. At the same time, there has been resistance within the PLAN at Liu Huaqing's vision for an extensive Chinese navy, leading to constant debates between developing aircraft carriers and submarines.

The United States Department of Defense's annual report on Chinese military capabilities for 2002 states that while continuing to research and discuss possibilities, China appears to have set aside indefinitely plans to acquire an aircraft carrier. This view is consistent with the statements of the Chinese government, which has publicly stated that an aircraft carrier is far too expensive for it to be considered right now.

Nevertheless, it was painted in PLAN grey in 2005.On 24 October 2006, the Kommersant online daily newspaper revealed Russia plans to sell up to 50 Su-33 fighters for in a $2.5 billion deal. The deal has gone through according to the Feb 2007 issue of AIRFORCES MONTHLY. Also recent photos in the Dalian Shipyard have shown that a yellow anti-skid primer was added to the flightdeck. Then the final flight deck turf layering was added on top of it. The vessel has also been painted in the standard PLA Naval colors for operational use. This clearly indicates that the PLA Navy intends to use the ex-Varyag as an operational carrier within the next 24 to 36 months.

The Varyag have been given a provisional name of Shi Lang with pennant number 83 by Janes Fighting Ships in January 2007 from various sources. Shi Lang is named after a Ming-Qing Dynasty admiral.