Quietly nestled in a bay on the outskirts Peking A relic of the raging Cold War arms race has now been repurposed as a tourist attraction. It is a kind of beach resort in the former Soviet Union and a naval aviation museum wrapped in the same package. aircraft carrier Kiev offers rooms for visitors to stay overnight and even hosts a jet ski show with a similar theme to the post-apocalyptic film ‘Waterworld’.
Some people may be surprised to learn this. soviet The former capital ship now plays a novel role in the People’s Republic of China, but it is a fitting symbol of the transformation of the dominant naval power of the 21st century. There are only six aircraft carriers in the world currently preserved as floating museums. Kiev is the only one located outside the United States.
Originally commissioned in 1975 as the flagship of the Soviet Pacific Fleet, she was sold to Chinese investors in the mid-1990s and became the cornerstone of a rapidly expanding fleet. Chinese Navy.While the People’s Liberation Army Navy is working on building nuclear-powered supercarriers with magnetic catapults and stealth fighters to rival those of the U.S. Navy, Kiev is enjoying a quiet post-service career that delights tourists.
Passing the Torch of Naval Aviation
When Kiev was launched from the Chernomorsky Shipyard in Ukraine, it raised concerns within the United States that the Soviet Union was building a maritime fleet with advanced naval aviation capabilities to rival the American fleet. In true Soviet fashion, this large aircraft-carrying cruiser is equipped with a lethal mix of anti-ship missiles, anti-submarine rockets, and Yakovlev Yak-38 jump jets. This hybrid design was doomed to failure because neither the ships nor the aircraft achieved combat capabilities comparable to those of America’s adversaries.
Kiev’s successor, Admiral Kuznetsov, and her unfinished sister ship, the Varyag, also failed to live up to expectations. But Kuznetsov has never really been combat capable and will be barely seaworthy in 2026. Meanwhile, China also I bought a Varyag It was intended to be a casino, but after arriving in China it was repurposed as the first active aircraft carrier. Today, the domestically built Fujian serves as the PLAN’s flagship ship. Although it is not nuclear-powered like the American 11 Nimitz or Ford-class supercarriers, it has a flat deck and magnetic catapults.
The next aircraft carrier built for the PLAN is expected to be nuclear-powered, giving the Chinese Navy the same high-ocean capabilities as the U.S. carrier strike group. Kiev offers a fun and novel way to experience the birth of Chinese naval aviation. Although this ship was not part of the PLAN’s active fleet, it is a rare, if somewhat unusual, opportunity for aviation enthusiasts.
In fact, Kiev is even more unique because its sister ship Minsk, which was also a theme park for many years, was mothballed due to fire damage and was closed to the public. Only four Kiev-class ships were built, one of which was dismantled for scrap metal in Korea. However, a fourth ship in particular, the Admiral Gorshkov, was purchased by the Indian Navy and converted into a ski jump carrier that is still in service today.
Fun in the sun: a resort for sea power
Angled deck in Kiev coated with special heat-resistant tiles to withstand hot weather Exhaust system of vertical takeoff jet aircraftNow it’s an observatory. Tourists can lean on the railing, grab cotton candy and cameras and look down into the water where the stunt show is taking place. According to Baidu Wiki, the park is famous for its Hollywood-style stunt shows that feature dirt bikes, jet skis, acrobats, explosions, fireworks, and more, depending on the day.
On the land side of the resort and on Kiev’s deck and inside the hangar, Russian and Chinese military equipment is on display. Just outside the pier is a Russian-themed street with servers in traditional clothing, restaurants serving Russian food, and gift shops filled with souvenirs.
According to Vintage Aviation News, planes on display include the Nanchang Q-5 along with the Yak-38 and other Chinese fighter models such as the Shenyang J-6 and Chengdu J-10. The site has expanded into a wider naval museum and now displays the retired Chinese destroyer Chongqing, a Ming-class submarine and a number of patrol boats.
Part of the aircraft carrier’s spacious interior has been converted into the unique Binhai Aircraft Hotel, with luxury suites built inside the hull. Entering the forward missile magazine was like walking through the gateway to the Soviet Navy. These parts of the ship have been restored and pay true homage to Kiev’s military origins. Even the shambles that once housed hundreds of sailors has been rebuilt, and wax mannequins dressed as Soviet soldiers are scattered throughout to add to the immersion.
Why Kiev is not a flat summit
One of the reasons the Soviet Navy built Kiev as an ‘air cruiser’ when it was launched was to avoid the restrictions established by the Montreux Convention. The security agreement restricted aircraft carriers from transiting through the Turkish Channel in Istanbul, which links the Mediterranean Sea with the Black Sea. Soviet shipyards in Ukraine were located on the Black Sea, so any ships built there had to pass through Istanbul to sail to the Atlantic.
Production of the Kiev-class aircraft carriers ceased in 1987 with Admiral Gorshkov (now INS Vikramaditya). Designed to challenge NATO submarines and project forces, its operational life was cut short by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Kiev was a pioneer in the class. It was the only ship of its class to record a properly deployed cruise across the Atlantic and Mediterranean, even chasing a U.S. carrier strike group. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine seceded to regain its independence, and Russia no longer needed extremely expensive capital ships.
Now that the Russian Federation no longer had access to Ukrainian shipyards, maintaining this fleet was not at all attractive. The general chaos resulting from the dismantlement of Soviet defenses was not only a major obstacle to maintaining a large fleet of ships, but they were also rapidly becoming obsolete. Kiev, Minsk and Novorossiysk were all sold within a short period of time, but Admiral Gorshkov remained until the historic deal with India was concluded. It wasn’t long before they set their sights on a larger target: Varyag.
The birth of Chinese aircraft carriers
Unlike the other two Russian aircraft carriers, the Varyag, now known as the Liaoning, was purchased from Ukraine under the condition that it be converted into an entertainment casino rather than a warship. In 1998, Ukraine auctioned off the empty hull for $20 million to a party-linked businessman from Macau. The massive 67,000-ton hull was 68% complete when the Soviet Union collapsed and Ukraine halted all work.
The Chinese were intent on acquiring Varyag amid the chaos of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, but faced new, seemingly insurmountable obstacles. To circumvent the arms embargo and pressure from Western geopolitical giants such as the United States, the Chinese military recruited Xu Zengping, a Hong Kong-based businessman and former PLA basketball player. The National Interest wrote that after setting up his company in Macau, Xu brought suitcases containing U.S. dollar bills and gallons of Chinese liquor to drinking parties in an attempt to persuade Ukrainian shipyard officials.
The ploy paid off when Xu officially won the auction and purchased a massive warship worth just $20 million. Crucially, while Western intelligence assumed the ship’s propulsion power had been removed, Ukrainian officials left the ship’s heavy and militarily sensitive engines entirely inside the hull. Thus, the PLA Navy has found a basic prototype for building the Qinghai aircraft carrier fleet currently cruising the high seas.
long journey to take off
Xu officially won the Varyag auction, but getting it back to China wasn’t so easy. The massive aircraft carrier spent 16 months stuck in the Black Sea while diplomatic maneuvers unfolded to allow it to pass through the Turkish-controlled Bosphorus Strait. In the end, China was forced to make concessions, including a $1 billion package, a state-sponsored tourism deal and military technology transfers to the Turkish military.
In late 2001, the strait was closed to all other maritime traffic as a fleet of tugboats and pilot boats steered the massive, rudderless aircraft carrier through the strait. Due to her crippled condition, the Varyag was also denied passage through the Suez Canal and instead had to make the painful 15,200 nautical mile journey around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope. The ship did not arrive at the Dalian Naval Shipyard until 2002 and was docked in Chinese waters.
The ship was not delivered to Macau and instead spent the next ten years managing it. Dalian Shipbuilding Company, The entire vessel was inspected from top to bottom. Kiev, Minsk, and especially Varyag gave China the foresight it needed to make the leap from zero aircraft carrier experience to the Type 003 Fujian, a planar equipped with magnetic catapults and landing wires. Currently, Type 004 is being built at Dalian Shipyard.
Navy analysts and satellite images strongly indicate that the fourth aircraft carrier will be nuclear-powered. The ship is expected to be a true 100,000-ton supercarrier, matching the footprint of the American Nimitz and Ford classes. With four aircraft carriers, China will transition from a defensive flotilla to an offensive power projection fleet. Binhai tourists visiting Kiev can enjoy a fun and whimsical experience that opens a window into the origins of the remarkable transformation of naval power.
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