Both Soviet and Chinese carrier programmes used the Kuznetsov lineage to build experience before pursuing more ambitious ships. The planned Soviet Ulyanovsk and China's Fujian represent movement from locally defensive carrier aviation toward a more expeditionary capability. Fujian's electromagnetic catapults may be an important advance, but the ship is primarily a controlled evolutionary step rather than a complete technological leap. The procurement lesson is to change selected systems, learn from them at sea, and avoid combining too many unproven technologies in one design.
Chapter · 29:14-35:29
A stepping stone to larger carrier capability
The class is treated as a developmental bridge: toward the planned Soviet Ulyanovsk and toward China's successive move from Liaoning to Shandong and Fujian.