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Name:	Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov (Russian: Адмирал Флота Советского Союза Кузнецов)
Namesake:	Nikolay Kuznetsov
Ordered:	3 March 1981
Builder:	Nikolayev South Designer: Nevskoye Planning and Design Bureau
Laid down:	1 April 1982[1]
Launched:	6 December 1985[1]
Commissioned:	25 December 1990[1][N 1] (Fully operational in 1995)
Refit:	May – August 2015[3]
Status:	in active service
General characteristics
Class and type:	Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier
Displacement:	43,000 tonnes (42,000 long tons; 47,000 short tons), light[4][1] 55,000 tonnes (54,000 long tons; 61,000 short tons), standard[4][1] 58,600 tonnes (57,700 long tons; 64,600 short tons), max[4]
Length:	305 m (1,001 ft) o/a[1] 270 m (890 ft) w/l
Beam:	72 m (236 ft)[1] o/a 35 m (115 ft) w/l[1]
Draft:	10 m (33 ft)[1]
Propulsion:	Steam turbines, 8 turbo-pressurised boilers, 4 shafts, 200,000 hp (150 MW) 4 × 50,000 hp (37 MW) turbines 9 × 2,011 hp (1,500 kW) turbogenerators 6 × 2,011 hp (1,500 kW) diesel generators 4 × fixed pitch propellers
Speed:	29 knots (33 mph; 54 km/h)[1]
Range:	8,500 nmi (15,700 km) at 18 kn (21 mph; 33 km/h)[1]
Endurance:	45 days[1]
Complement:	1,690 (total); 1,690 ship's crew[1] 626 air group 40 flag staff 3,857 rooms
Armament:	6 × AK-630 AA guns (6×30 mm, 6,000 round/min/mount, 24,000 rounds) 8 × CADS-N-1 Kashtan CIWS (each 2 × 30 mm Gatling AA plus 32 3K87 Kortik SAM) 12 × P-700 Granit SSM 24 × 8-cell 3K95 Kinzhal SAM VLS(192 missiles; 1 missile per 3 seconds) RBU-12000 UDAV-1 ASW rocket launchers (60 rockets)
Aircraft carried:	Approx. 41 aircraft[5] Fixed Wing; 12 × Su-33 fighters (current) 20 × MiG-29K/KUB fighters (future)[6] 4 × Sukhoi Su-25UTG Rotary Wing; 4 × Kamov Ka-27LD32 helicopters 18 × Kamov Ka-27PL helicopters 2 × Kamov Ka-27PS helicopters

The design of Admiral Kuznetsov-class implies a mission different from that of the United States Navy's carriers. The term used by her builders to describe the Russian ships is tyazholyy avianesushchiy kreyser (TAVKR) – "heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser" – intended to support and defend strategic missile-carrying submarines, surface ships, and naval missile-carrying aircraft of the Russian Navy.

The deck configuration has three launch positions for fixed-wing aircraft.
Admiral Kuznetsov's main fixed-wing aircraft is the multi-role Sukhoi Su-33. It can perform air superiority, fleet defence, and air support missions and can also be used for direct fire support of amphibious assault, reconnaissance and placement of naval mines.^[10]

The carrier also carries the Kamov Ka-27 and Kamov Ka-27S helicopters for anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, and small transport.

For take-off of fixed wing aircraft, Admiral Kuznetsov uses a ski-jump at the end of her bow. On take-off aircraft accelerate toward and up the ski-jump using their afterburners. This results in the aircraft leaving the deck at a higher angle and elevation than on an aircraft carrier with a flat deck and catapults. The ski-jump take-off is less demanding on the pilot, since the acceleration is lower, but results in a clearance speed of only 120–140 km/h (75–85 mph) requiring an aircraft design which will not stall at those speeds.^[11]

The cruiser role is facilitated by Admiral Kuznetsov's complement of 12 long-range surface-to-surface anti-ship P-700 Granit(NATO reporting name: Shipwreck) cruise missiles. As a result, this armament is the basis for the ship's Russian type designator of "heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser".