70302 - Helicopter Carrying Cruiser Leningrad, Project 1123, 1968, 1/700
Leningrad was the second of two Moskva class helicopter carriers in service with the Soviet Navy. Laid down at Nikolayev South (Shipyard No.444), Leningrad was commissioned in late 1968. Preceded by Moskva, there were no further vessels built, reportedly due to the poor handling of the ships in rough seas. She was conventionally-powered.
The Moskvas were not true "aircraft carriers" in that they did not carry any fixed-wing aircraft; the air wing was composed entirely of helicopters. They were designed primarily as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) vessels, and her weapons and sensor suite was optimized against the nuclear submarine threat. Shipboard ASW armament included a twin SUW-N-1 launcher capable of delivering a FRAS-1 projectile carrying a 450 mm torpedo (or a 5 kiloton nuclear warhead); a pair of RBU-6000 ASW mortars; and a set of torpedo tubes. For self-defense, the Moskvas had two twin SA-N-3 SAM launchers with reloads for a total of 48 surface-to-air missiles, along with two twin 57 mm/80 guns. A "Mare Tail" variable depth sonar worked in conjunction with heliborne sensors to hunt submarines.
Their strategic role was to defend the Soviet ballistic missile submarine bastions against incursions by Western attack submarines, forming the flagships of an ASW task force.
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