Origin USA
Type Aircraft Carrier
Year 1968
Displacement, tons 60 100
Dimensions, meters 318.8 x 39.6 x 11.3
Aircraft 78 Fighters 8 Helicopters
Missiles 2 x Sea Sparrow
Guns 3 x 20mm Mk 15 CIWS
Torpedo -
Main Engines 4 geared turbines. 280 000 shp.
Speed, knots 30+
Range, miles 12.000
Complement 2800 (plus airwing of 2150; a total of 4950)

Kitty Hawk was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden , New Jersey , 27 December 1956 ; and launched 21 May 1960 , sponsored by Mrs. Neil H. McElroy; and commissioned 21 April 1961 at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Captain William F. Bringle in command. She was the first of the Kitty Hawk class (the other ships of that class being USS Constellation (CV-64) and USS America (CV-66)). Unusually the home port of Kitty Hawk is Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan , making it the world's only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier. Until recently, she was one of only two aircraft carriers ever to be honored with flying the First Navy Jack. Kitty Hawk became the ship with the longest active status in the Navy on 30 September 1998 , with the decommissioning of USS Independence. Like her half sister Kennedy, Kitty Hawk is a non-nuclear aircraft carrier, and at present one of only two non nuclear carriers still in active service with the Navy, as such she is a high priority item for the Navy to replace.

Origin USSR
Type Aircraft Carrier
Year 198?
Displacement, tons 53 100
Dimensions, meters 300.0 x 38.0 x 11.0
Aircraft 28 Fighters 24 Helicopters
Missiles 2 x SS-N-19 Shipwreck – 18 x SA-N-9 Gauntlet –16 x SA-N-11
Guns 6 x 30mm – 8 x 30mm CIWS
Torpedo -
Main Engines 4 Steam turbines. 200 000 shp. Speed, knots 32
Range, miles 7.100
Complement 1960 (plus airwing of 625; a total of 3857)

The Soviet aircraft carrier Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov (originally named Tbilisi) was intended to be the lead ship of the Kuznetsov-class of aircraft carriers (also known as Project 1143.5, the Brezhnev class, or the Kreml class) but the only other ship of its class, the Varyag, has never been commissioned and is thought to be currently owned by the People's Republic of China. It was named after the Soviet admiral Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov. While designated an aircraft carrier, Kuznetsov's design implies a mission different from that of either the United States Navy's carriers or those of the Royal Navy's. The Russian ship is termed by her builders to be a tyazholiy avionosnyy kreyser - a "heavy aviation cruiser" - intended to support and defend strategic missile-carrying submarines, surface ships, and maritime missile-carrying aircraft of the Russian fleet. The aircraft of the Kuznetsov are essentially constrained to air superiority operations. The lack of catapults on the Kuznetsov precludes launching strike aircraft with heavy loads, which makes it essentially impossible for aircraft to attack land or naval targets. The carrier can carry helicopters for anti-submarine operations, however, and it also carries anti-shipping missiles. Hull and Flight Deck The hull design is based on the earlier Admiral Gorshkov, launched in 1982, but is larger. The flight deck area is 14,700 m? and aircraft take-off is assisted by a bow ski-jump angled at 12?. The flight deck is equipped with arrester wires but has no catapults. Two starboard lifts carry aircraft from the hangar to the flight deck. Airwing The ship has the capacity to support 16 Yakovlev Yak-41M (NATO reporting name "Freestyle"), twelve Sukhoi Su-27K fixed-wing aircraft and a range of helicopters including four Kamov Ka-27-LD (NATO reporting name "Helix"), 18 Ka-27 PLO, and two Ka-27-S. Armament The ship has a Granit (NATO reporting name SS-N-19 "Shipwreck") anti-ship missile system equipped with twelve surface-to-surface missile launchers. The Klinok air defence missile system, with 24 vertical launchers and 192 missiles, defends the ship against anti-ship missiles, aircraft and surface ships. The Kashstan Air Defence Gun and Missile System, supplied by the Instrument Design Bureau and Tulamashzavod JSC in Tula , provides defence against precision weapons including anti-ship and anti-radar missiles, aircraft and small sea targets. Eight systems are fitted, combining missile launcher, 30 mm twin gun and radar/optronic director. The range of the laser beam-riding missiles is from 1.5 to 8 km. The gun can fire up to 1,000 rounds per minute in the range 0.5 to 1.5 km. Six AK630 30 mm air defence guns are also fitted. The ship is equipped with an Udav-1 anti-submarine system with 60 anti-submarine rockets. Udav-1, supplied by the Splav Research and Production Association in Moscow , protects surface ships by diverting and destroying incoming torpedoes. The system also provides defence against submarines and saboteur systems such as underwater vehicles. The system has ten barrels and is capable of firing 111SG depth charge projectiles, 111SZ mine laying projectiles and 111SO diverting projectiles. The range of the system is 3000 m and the submarine engagement depth is to 600 m.