Should Russia buy back an aircraft carrier from China?

 

Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. Business Insider/Getty.

Russia has proposed buying back the Liaong aircraft carrier from China to replace the long suffering Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. Business Insider. The Admiral Kuznetsov is Russia's only carrier but it has been plagued with mechanical problems and other disaster, including a series of fires as well as having a crane collapse on it. The carrier might not be able to return to service. A Russian lawmaker proposed a solution, buying the former Soviet Carrier Varyag from China. China bought the ship from Ukraine after the collapse of communism in the Soivet Union and developed into their first aircraft carrier. The ship is now called Liaong and is used as a training ship. 

My Comment:

I ignored the obvious Ukrainian propaganda in the Business Insider piece. I have no idea why they would quote an Ukrainian outlet about the Admiral Kuznetsov, they have every motivation to lie about anything related to Russia. Unfortunately, I was not able to find a less biased source for this post.

I do believe that the Admiral Kuznetov is mostly useless now. The ship had a successful deployment in the Syrian Civil War, but the ship was plagued by mechanical problems. It needed a major refit and repairs after that deployment but instead it got a crane dropped on it and it burned down several times. It's being repaired but who knows when or if it would be finished. 

Buying the Liaong might be a better idea than trying to rebuild the Kuznetsov. China has taken good care of the ship and it would a good addition to Russia's fleet. It wouldn't be that hard to convert it to Russian standards because the ship was originally Soviet in the first place. They have the planes to use on it and they would be able to use it to project force. 

Of course, the elephant in the room is that China seems extremely unlikely to sell the Liaong. China only has three carriers and the third, the Fujian, has not even gone through sea trials now. And though the Liaong has been relegated to a training ship, the Chinese obviously need one. China is building more carriers but at this point I can't see them selling the Liaong at any price until their carrier program is a lot more developed. 

The other issue is that I don't think Russia actually needs a new aircraft carrier. Indeed, I think that if they are going to build any ships at all it should be missile frigates and destroyers. Those would be more useful than a highly vulnerable aircraft carrier.

And I don't think having an aircraft carrier would have helped much in the war against Ukraine. Airpower hasn't been relevant in the fight since both sides have anti-air weapons and Russia's use of artillery and missiles have done a much better job. Those weapons are Russia's focus and will continue to be so until the war in Ukraine ends. This plan to buy Liaong will likely amount to nothing.