Soviet Navy
Leningrad underway 1990
Moskva was the first of
her class of
helicopter carriers in service with the
Soviet Navy. Laid down at
Nikolayev South (Shipyard No.444),
Moskva was launched in 1965 and she was commissioned two years later.
Moskva was followed by
Leningrad, which was commissioned in late 1968; there were no further vessels built, reportedly due to the poor handling of the ships in rough seas. Both were conventionally powered.
The
Moskvas were not true "aircraft carriers" in that they did not carry any
fixed-wing aircraft; the air wing was composed entirely of
helicopters. They were designed primarily as
anti-submarine warfare (ASW) vessels, and her weapons and sensor suite was optimized against the nuclear submarine threat. Shipboard ASW armament included a twin
SUW-N-1 launcher capable of delivering a
FRAS-1 projectile carrying a 450 mm torpedo (or a 5 kiloton nuclear warhead); a pair of RBU-6000 ASW mortars; and a set of torpedo tubes. For self-defense, the
Moskvas had two twin SA-N-3 SAM launchers with reloads for a total of 48 surface-to-air missiles, along with two twin 57 mm/80 guns. A "
Mare Tail" variable depth sonar worked in conjunction with heliborne sensors to hunt submarines.
Their strategic role was to defend the
Soviet ballistic missile submarine bastions against incursions by Western
attack submarines, forming the flagships of an ASW task force.
Leningrad was taken out of service in 1991, but
Moskva remained in service until the late 1990s, when she, too, was scrapped.
