The Russians tried to emulate a US aircraft carrier back in the 1980s, one that carried YAK-38 VSTOL aircraft. These systems has zdero advantage to US systems because of the EWINT/EW systems were placed on a helicopter, and were significantly less capable than US Navy versions. The Russian navy has wisely sold off some of their old carriers, preferring to keep the Admiral Kuznetsov in service, which has a compliment of navalized MiG-29s and SU-25s.

The probem for the Russians in using new aircraft for older carrier systems, was the carriers were built around the bird, a much smaller bird.

I watched videos of Russian navy deckhands trying to squeeze a navalized SU-25 through the Kuznetsov's bulkheads. Not a pretty sight. I suspect in time, unless the Russian gets serious about challenging the US Navy for sea lanes, they will likely revert to their tried and true doctrine of coastal naval aviation. It served their nation well in WWII and before.

So, I suspect that eventually, China will decide that the US has an insurmountable advantage in carrier doctrine, and will revert to a coastal naval aviation component as well.

But they won't this week, apparently.


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