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By A. D. Baker, III, Editor, Combat Fleets of the World
The Soviet Navy aircraft carrier Tblisi recently took on her third identity, the Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov, on 4 October 1991. The 65,000-ton ship had originally been named the Leonid Brezhnev. Note the “dimple” in the transom stern; in the Kiev class, its function was to suppress the spray thrown out by the blast from the lift engines of landing Yak-38 Forger vertical takeoff or landing (VTOL) fighters. Evidently, the Kuznetsov was intended to be able to operate the now-obsolescent Forger or its reportedly canceled successor, the Yak-141 Freehand, in addition to the more potent Su-27 Flanker and MiG-29K Fulcrum.
The 2,054-ton full load displacement coastal survey ship John McDonnell (T-AGS-51) was delivered to the Navy in November having begun sea trials in August. The John McDonnell has a sister, Littlehales (T-AGS- 52) launched on 14 February 1991, while T-AGS-53 and -54 are programmed for authorization in fiscal year 1994. The 208-foot John McDonnell is intended to collect hydrographic data in waters from 10 to 4,000 meters deep using hull- mounted and towed sensors. The ship also carries two 34-foot hydrographic survey launches and will carry a crew of 21 to 23 civilian mariners plus 1 to 12 survey technicians.
Seen during a visit to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in August shortly after her belated acceptance, the first Canadian “City”-class frigate, the Halifax (FFH-330), will be followed by 11 sisters rather than the originally envisioned class total of 24. A recent Canadian government decisio" will reduce its deployable surface fleet to the dozen “Cities,” four modernized “Tribal”-class guided- missile destroyers, three elderly diesel submarines, and two replenis ment oilers by 2000.
Proceedings / December