Kresta's hangar balanced stability against shipyard limits

Was the Kresta hangar arrangement worthwhile despite its effects on flight-deck space, topweight, and helicopter handling?

It was a defensible least-worst solution within hull and shipyard limits, but it added substantial complexity and was not ideal for repeated helicopter operations.

Sacrificing flight-deck area had to be weighed against raising a heavy hangar and missile launcher, which would worsen stability and lengthen ammunition routes. The Project 1134A hull had also reached a shipyard size limit, while the larger Kara class provided more weapons, sensors, and habitable space. The Kresta arrangement had defensible reasons, but it imposed continuing complications on helicopter operations. It was clever as a provisional answer and much harder to justify when the same cramped approach carried into later designs.