Why the Kirov class made strategic sense for the Soviet Union

Was the Kirov-class missile cruiser a bad idea?

Not for the Soviet Union; it combined prestige with a missile threat that forced opponents to spend heavily on defenses.

The Kirov design would have been a poor bargain for the United States but a rational instrument for Soviet strategy. A Kirov could appear abroad as an imposing status ship at a time when the Soviet carrier force was limited. Its large missile battery also compelled opponents to take an expensive threat seriously. Part of its value came from pressuring an adversary's constrained procurement budget, apart from its performance in a direct ship-to-ship exchange.