Russian aircraft carrier

[Peter1469]

Russia's only aircraft carrier is not doing very well in combat off the coast of Syria. Two of its jets have already crashed.

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The second crash of a Russian warplane off the coast of Syria in less than a month intensified scrutiny Monday of a critical weakness in Moscow’s show of naval force in the Mediterranean and the 1,000-foot hulk leading it. 

The Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia’s sole, aging aircraft carrier, made a very public entry into the Syrian conflict when it steamed through the English Channel in October. But analysts say it is not suited to the task of providing ground support in a protracted conflict.

Nor is it suited for the job President Vladi­mir Putin intended when he ordered the ship into the Mediterranean: to project Russian naval power.

“The Admiral Kuznetsov was not designed for such tasks,” Alexander Golts, a military writer for the independent Moscow-based news journal New Times , said in an interview. “It’s a very old ship with very old technologies. It is not prepared for intensive flights.”

[Archer]

Nothing to do with the age or the technology! Hell a WWII carrier could pommel the ground!

It is nothing more than an excuse and most likely it is the writer working for the government to get support for military upgrades.

The issue as I see it?

Poor training, poor product knowledge (experience with the equipment) and slack maintenance.

[Peter1469]

I believe they were building a new one but had funding problems.

[Archer]

[Peter1469]

Maybe, but their economy is stretched thin with the sanctions, commodity prices, and its military actions in Crimea, the Ukraine, and Syria.