A U.S. Navy Admiral Once Toured Russia's Aircraft Carrier Admiral Kuznetsov
With less than a month remaining, it seems highly unlikely that the Russian Navy's flagship aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov will return begin its sea trials in 2024. Whether the carrier's refit is even completed next year is still anyone's guess. The Kremlin has repeatedly suggested the carrier will rejoin the fleet, and be more capable than ever.
Whether that latter fact is true is also an unknown, and unfortunately the one man who might have the insight on the carrier is no longer with us. United States Navy Admiral Donald Lee Pilling, who passed away from Leukemia in May 2008, had the distinction of being among the few Americans to have walked the deck of the carrier.
How an American Admiral Was on Russia's Carrier
It is almost hard to remember but there was a time when relations between Washington and Moscow were almost friendly.
On January 7, 1996, as Russia was still recovering from the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Admiral Pilling was among a small group of U.S. Navy officers who were given a tour of the Admiral Kuznetsov while it was deployed to the Mediterranean – the first time a Russian Navy battle group had transited the waters since 1991.
According to a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) release that announced the visit, Pilling met with First Deputy Commander of the Russian Navy and the Commander of the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet. Russian Adm. Igor Kasatonov, while "the American delegation was hosted to a traditional Russian meal and a display of embarked aircraft." The carrier was "in the Mediterranean to show the flag and help commemorate the Russian Navy's 300th anniversary."
Writing for the U.S. Naval Institute in March 1997, Pilling described the visit as out of the ordinary.
"Russian conventional carrier air operations had never been observed: even the roles of the escort ships and the composition of the group's command element were conjectural," Pilling and Captain Doug Connell explained.
"This initial visit was electric. With both sides acutely aware of the historic aspects of the event, Commander, Sixth Fleet, and the Russian flag officer stood side by side rendering honors, as two national ensigns flew from the Kuznetsov's halyards and the national anthems of each nation rang across the flight deck," Pilling and Connell added.
A dozen Russian flag officers were present, as was Sukhoi Chief Test Pilot Victor Pugachev, the famed inventor of the Cobra maneuver. The U.S. delegation was given a tour of the flight deck and three different Soviet-made carrier-based aircraft including the Sukhoi Su-27K (NATO reporting name Flanker).
The Favor Returned
Just 10 days after Pilling made his historic visit and walked the flight deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov, the favor was returned. On January 17, 1996, a Russian delegation that included Admiral Vladimir Kasatonov – "accompanied by our Russian Navy and Air Force flag officers, two translators, his son (a Russian Navy midshipman), three members of the Russian press pool, and Chief Test Pilot Pugachev" – were welcomed aboard the U.S. Navy's Kitty Hawk-class supercarrier USS America (CVA-66).
During the meeting, joint operations were discussed. And that even included "cross-deck operations" from the Russian and U.S. Navy carriers!
"The idea of Flankers operating from U.S. carriers came up frequently, and the Russians took great pleasure in executing spectacular high-speed, low-altitude fly-bys and acrobatic demonstrations almost every time our ships were close to their air operations. We were never certain whether their interest in cross decking was primarily technical or commercial," Pilling added.
It never came to be, however. The U.S. Navy did participate in the Northern Eagle joint exercises with the Russian Navy from 2004 until 2013 – only to see the annual drills canceled following Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
USS America was retired due to budget cuts and sadly was scuttled off the coast of Cape Hatteras following a month-long series of tests. CVA-66 remains the largest warship ever sunk. Admiral Kuznetsov remains in port and could set the record for the longest non-nuclear-powered carrier refit!