Russia Ups Ante Deploying Carrier to Mediterranean

The Kremlin has upped the geopolitical ante by pledging to send a heavy aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean, as reported by Russian news agency Interfax.

The carrier — named the "Admiral Kuznetsov" — is quite the beast, and word of its addition to the area of operations is just the latest in jockeying between the U.S. and Russia.

Read more at: Business Insider

Specs and info from Wikipedia

Name:	Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov (Russian: Адмирал Флота Советского Союза Кузнецов)
Namesake:	Nikolai Gerasimovich 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] Fully operational in 1995
Status:	Ship in active service, refit planned after 2012
General characteristics
Class & type:	Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier
Displacement:	43,000 tons (Standard-load)[1] 55,200 tons (Full-load)[1] 61,390 tons (Max-load)
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) 2 × 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:	• 8 × 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 • 18 × 8-cell 3K95 Kinzhal SAM VLS (192 missiles; 1 missile per 3 seconds) • RBU-12000 UDAV-1 ASW rocket launchers (60 rockets)
Aircraft carried:	41-52[2] Fixed Wing; 14 × Su-33 fighters (current) 28 × MiG-29K fighters (planned after refit) 4 × Sukhoi Su-25UTG/UBP aircraft Rotary Wing; 4 × Kamov Ka-27LD32 helicopters 11 × Kamov Ka-27PLO helicopters 2 × Kamov Ka-27S helicopters