Russian Navy - News and Analysis

Whenever the Russian media shows scale models of potential aircraft carriers for the Russian Navy, a widespread debate starts about the use and purpose of these vessels by the Russian Navy. While these discussions have their rightful place, there is a general ignorance that the aircraft carrier debate is part of a larger discussion, namely that Russia has always been lagging in the construction and operation of capital ships. One simply has to look to the fact that Russian shipyards are currently not building larger vessels such as destroyers and cruisers. Indeed, all capital ships currently in use by the Russian Navy date back from the Soviet era and it is unlikely that the lack in capital ships will be resolved in the near future. Lamantin class carrier - scale model Historical perspective The lack of capital warships in the Russian navy can be traced back to the end of the tsarists empire. Having lost the majority of its capital ships first in the Battle of Tsushima in