The Russian Project 23900 ships laid down in 2020 displace roughly 40,000 tons, placing them close to light carriers in industrial and aviation demands. Completing them could make a later carrier programme more plausible. They may also reduce the need to preserve Admiral Kuznetsov solely as a store of carrier knowledge. Regenerating a lost naval capability is harder than maintaining skills through an imperfect but continuous sequence of ships.
Notable Point · 2:46:32-2:48:10
Project 23900 may preserve Russian large-deck skills
Russia's planned 40,000-ton assault ships could rebuild large-deck construction and aviation experience before any future carrier programme.