Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov to be docked in 2020.

Russia’s aircraft carrier The Admiral Kuznetsov, currently undergoing repairs and maintenance at the 35th ship repair plant in Murmansk, will be docked in 2020, a source in the shipbuilding industry told TASS.

Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov inside the dock in Severomorsk/Murmansk in 2015 (Picture Source: Flotprom.ru)

"The phase of repairs in a dry dock will begin in 2020, provided the facilities required are in place and the dock’s capacity is increased," the source said.

The United Shipbuilding Corporation told TASS the 35th ship repair plant was in the process of upgrading its dock facilities, which would allow for accommodating the aircraft carrier The Admiral Kuznetsov.

"It’s a complex package of measures, so we foresee a certain postponement of the second docking of the ship, but the eventual deadline for completing the repairs and upgrade - 2021 - will remain unchanged," the corporation said.

The Admiral Kuznetsov was damaged in a night-time incident on October 30, 2018, during a launch operation in Murmansk. The floating dock PD-50 sank under the ship in an emergency. The fall of a crane damaged the carrier’s flight deck.

Shipbuilding corporation president Alexei Rakhmanov told TASS the aircraft carrier suffered 52 defects, which would cost 70 million rubles to eliminate. He said The Admiral Kuznetsov would have to be docked for a second time. Originally the operation was scheduled for the summer of 2019. After the sinking of the PD-50 dock, several options of a second docking were considered and the choice was made in favour of creating the required facilities at the 35th ship repair plant.

In April 2018, the shipbuilders signed a contract with the Defense Ministry for doing repairs on the aircraft carrier The Admiral Kuznetsov (project 11435). The then deputy commander of the Russian Navy, Viktor Bursuk, said the repairs on Russia’s sole aircraft carrier began in May 2018 and the Navy hoped to have the upgraded ship back in 2021.

Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on April 9 the share of the repair and upgrade work done reached 25% and was to be completed by the end of 2020. The Admiral Kuznetsov will be armed with new air defence systems, including Pantsir-M. Power equipment, boilers, pumps, flight equipment, observation and control systems will be replaced.

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