Russia's Aircraft Carrier To Visit Syrian Base

Russia's  aircraft carrier will visit Moscow's small naval base in Syria
later this year

"At the end of the year, most likely in early December, the Project
11435 heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser the Admiral Kuznetsov will set
off on a long-distance sea voyage during which it will call at the Russian
Federation Navy's logistical support centre located in the Syrian city of
Tartus," Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement

The Admiral Kuznetsov is Russia's only operational aircraft
carrier. The article clarifies that Russia refers to the ship as an
aircraft-carrying cruiser because "under international treaties aircraft
carriers are banned from passing through the Bosporus and Dardanelles.... But this
ban does not extend to aircraft-carrying cruisers."

The carrier can hold 50 airplanes and
helicopters and comes equipped with "Granit antiship missiles, Kortik and Klinok
surface-to-air missiles, and Udav antisubmarine warfare systems." Admiral Kuznetsov is 14,000 square meters and carries a crew of nearly 2,200 people including flight and technical
personnel.

The Admiral Kuznetsov previously made a port call at Tartus in January 2012
as part of a "naval carrier group" that was on a 43-day voyage in late 2011 and
early 2012. After the naval carrier group returned, Russia's defense minister at
the time said the carrier group's presence in the Mediterranean confirmed Russia's status
as a "great naval power."