Kiev-class aircraft carrier
Videos
The Kiev class, Soviet designation Project 1143 Krechyet, was the first class of fixed-wing aircraft carriers built in the Soviet Union for the Soviet Navy. In addition to its aviation capabilities, t
Novorossiysk in 1986
P-500 Bazalt launch tubes on the foredeck of the Kiev. M-11 and Osa-M launchers (small disk) are also visible.
P-500 Bazalt launch tubes on the foredeck of the Baku. 3K95 Khinzal launchers (disks to front) and AK-100 guns are visible.
Soviet aircraft carrier Baku
Videos
Baku was a Kiev-class aircraft carrier of the Soviet Navy and the Russian Navy from 1987 to 1996. In 1991 the ship was renamed Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov in Russian service.
Kiev-class aircraft carrier
…Soviet then Russian navies between 1975 and 1996. Kiev and Minsk were sold to China as museum ships, while Novorossiysk was scrapped. The fourth ship, Baku, was sold to the Indian Navy as Admiral Gorshkov in 2004, and after years of extensive modifications and refurbishment, is in active service as the INS…
Baku underway off the coast of southern Italy, c. 1988
Yakovlev Yak-38 Forger aircraft and Kamov Ka-27 Helix helicopters aboard Baku in 1988.
View of Baku's island superstructure, showing the Mars-Passat (NATO reporting name "Sky Watch") phased array radar scanners