MOSCOW, March 28 (AVN) - Workers of the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry have fully prepared a group of Northern Fleet vessels for a trip to the Mediterranean Sea, Valery Lebedev, deputy head of the ministry, said on Tuesday.
Nuclear reactors of the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft carrier and the Petr Veliky heavy missile cruiser are ready for a long-term voyage, Lebedev told the Military News Agency.
The Navy Staff has declined to name the exact date of the group's departure. According to its high-ranking official, it is not yet defined due to difficulties in financing the voyage.
The Navy command also confirmed that the ships are ready to sail off and stressed that the voyage will begin as soon as acting President Vladimir Putin decides on provision of the necessary money.
The Mediterranean trip is a part of the World Ocean federal target-oriented programme which aims, among other issues, at ensuring favourable conditions for economic activity of Russian vessels at ocean and sea ways, the Agency learned in the Navy Staff. The voyage will mark the restoration of Russia's military presence in the southeastern sector of the ocean.
The Project 1143.5 Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier is the flagship of the Northern Fleet. It was built at the Black Sea shipyard in the Ukrainian port of Nikolayev and adopted by the Navy in 1990. Its displacement is 55,000t, length of the flight deck over 300m, capacity of the nuclear reactor 200,000hp. The vessel is capable of hitting the maximum speed of 32 knots. Its crew numbers 2,100 sailors.
The carrier is armed with 12 Granit anti-ship missile launchers, eight Kinzhal air defence missile launchers, eight Kortik air defence missile launchers and six 30mm AK-630 air defence artillery systems.
Generally, a cruiser group carries 52 aircraft: 36 SU-33 Flanker planes and 16 KA-27 Helix helicopters.