1/350 Soviet Union Submersible Aircraft Carrier Number 344, Admiral Phrozenutzov

Gallery Article by Alvis 3.1 on Jan 9 2010

Silly Week 2010

 

In the late 1970s, Soviet Naval officers began to realise the potential of Force Projection...but how to break the stranglehold of the imperialistic West on carrier task forces? One of their intrepid submarine Admirals began to punch through one of his pet projects: the Submersible Carrier. It was hoped it would be the next technological marvel. 

Using the basic hull (albeit stretched a lot) of the up and coming "Typhoon" Class, a carrier was created. Capable of carrying 8 Yak-141s and a single Kamov Ka-32 helicopter, this exercise in force projection was a colossal waste of time and money, and in fact, helped bring about the economic collapse of the Soviets in the late 90s.

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The Admiral Phrozenutov was named after a famous Soviet Arctic explorer who always seemed to get lost and eat his sled dogs. Twice, he got turned around in Gorky park, and once near his own house. He thought he'd discovered a new passageway through Siberia to the Pacific, but it didn't turn out to be said passageway.

The kits used were two Dragon 1/350 Typhoon" class subs, and aircraft from Trumpeter. Deck crew are WWII Japanese crew. .

Alvis 3.1

Photos and text © by Alvis 3.1