PENTAGON SAYS SOVIET HAS LAUNCHED FIRST CARRIER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403310021-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: January 16, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
~, Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09 :CIA-RDP9O-009658000403310021-1
N1?;W YUtCl~ 11MIrJ
AN IhID~Ar'~ R ~D
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16 January 1986
Pentagon Says Soviet Has Launched First arrrer
t
By BILL KELLER
Special to The New Yort Tlmea
W ASHINGTON, Jan.15 -The Soviet
Union has launched its first full-scale
aircraft carrier from a shipyard on the ,
Black Sea and has begun building a
second, the Pentagon said today.
Defense Secretary Caspar W. Wein-
berger said the development of carri-
ers able to launch jet fighters repre-
sented amajor step in the evolution of
the Soviet Navy into a more aggressive
force that could range tar from home.
Some Navy officers and private ex-
perts, however, predicted that the car-
riers would be primarily used in the
Norwegian Sea and other waters near
the Soviet Union, to hold the United
States Navy at bay in the event of a
conventional war.
Pentagon officials said today that the
new carrier would not be fully opera-
tional until the early 1890's. Navy otfl-
cials and Defense Intelligence Agency
analysts have publicly said that it will
most likely be 10 years before the car-
rierand Its aircraft are able to operate
proficiently.
The Pentagon announcement of the
new Soviet ship came as Mr. Weinber-
ger prepared for a renewed struggle
with Congress to preserve the United
States military buildup, including a
plan to increase the number of Navy
ships to 600, centered on 15 carriers. ~'' night in an interview on the ABC News
United States intelligence satellites program "Nightline."
have beerr~ollowing the construction of "This will start giving them a capa-
~e new er a s DYa a tlco- bility to engage in conflict and aggres-
la or sev ors ana mreur- sign much farther from their shores in
c ana is ave een re a way that will challenge very severely
at t us er anew era et our own naval strength," he said.
~ ~._ A Navy official said a Soviet carrier
e en agon predicted that the sec-
ond carrier, whose existence had not
been previously disclosed, would be
ready for launching within three years.
The Soviet military, traditionally a
land power. has gradually expanded its
navy in recent years, building a deep?
water fleeR able to range into the Pa-
cific and the Mediterranean. The
Soviet Navy has three 37,100-ton small
carriers that can handle only helicop-
ters and vertical-takeoff aircraft.
Pentagon officials said the new,
65,000-ton, 1,000-foot carrier, launched '
in December, had a ramp on its bow '
similar to a ski jump that could be used
for .launching some types of fighter
planes. The carrier also has a long, an-
gled flight deck similar to American
carriers, but it is unlarown whether
Russian shipbuilders have installed the
complex system of catapults and ar-
resting gears necessary to launch and
recover high-speed fighters.
The vessel is believed to use both nu-
clear and steam propulsion.
Adm. James D. Watkins, Chief of
Naval Operations, said last year in a
report on Soviet naval developments
that the Russians "lack experience in
operating fixed-wing aircraft at sea."
"Consequently," hesaid, "it could be
about 10 years before the new carrier
and its air group are capable of operat-
could complicate American operagons~
in the Medi!erranean, the Indian ~
Ocean, the Pacific and even the Carib-
bean. "n~-. a Soviet aircraft carrier off
Libya and see how that changes the
situation,," the Navy officer said.
Michael K. MccGwire, a Brookings
Institution fellow who is a specialist rn
Soviet naval affairs, said today that the>I
Soviet Union had always treated its ~'
navy as an extra layer to protect its~r
homelands in a general war against the"'
United States.
"It is not an indication of a Soviet itr-.;
tendon to move forward into the third ~
world," he said. "That is not to say iL ;
could not be used for that. But the
j Soviet Navy was built for world war."
,ing proficiently."
pentagon officials said the carrier
would enable the Soviet Union to ex-
tend its military might beyond the pro-
tection of land-based fighter planes,
which are usually considered able to
provid2 protection for about 300 miles,
and to project its power into third-
world conflicts.
"An aircraft carrier is a floating
base," Mr. Weinberger said Tuesday
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09 :CIA-RDP9O-009658000403310021-1