The Varyag is nearly 20 years old, but following an extensive refit it is once again a formidable, state-of-the-art, world-class warship excellently designed and armed for its mission, which is to destroy U.S. aircraft carriers in the vast waters of the Pacific Ocean.

But although the Varyag ship-for-ship is as formidable as any surface combat vessel afloat, it suffers from the great strategic limitations imposed on the Russian navy by a very limited and long-troubled shipbuilding capacity that still has not recovered from the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism.

"The Varyag's crew is scheduled to conduct a series of live firing drills against ground, surface and air targets," Russian navy spokesman Capt. 1st Rank Roman Martov told reporters Monday in Vladivostok, the home base of the Russian Pacific Fleet, RIA Novosti reported.

The purpose of the exercise was to confirm the reliability and monitor the performance of the warship's armaments, Martov said, according to the report.

"The cruiser is equipped with a powerful array of missile systems, torpedoes and artillery systems," RIA Novosti quoted Martov as saying.

The news agency also noted that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had described the Slava class of missile cruisers, of which the Varyag is one, as "the killer of aircraft carriers," since they are equipped with supersonic cruise missiles that could deliver 2,200-pound conventional warheads, or even nuclear ones, against U.S. aircraft carriers and their protective battle groups as far as 300 miles away.

A squadron of Slava-class missile cruisers could provide a formidable deterrent to the free operation of U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. However, their effectiveness is greatly limited by the fact that currently there are only three of them on operational duty with the Russian navy and the Varyag is the only one available to cover the entire Pacific Ocean.

The two other Slava-class cruisers currently operational are the Moskva, which is deployed with the Russian Black Sea Fleet, and the Marshal Ustinov, which sails as part of the Baltic Fleet, RIA Novosti said.

In the event of hostilities with the United States or NATO, the Marshal Ustinov and the Moskva would benefit from enjoying ground-based air cover from Russia's still formidable and rapidly modernizing air force. On the other hand, the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea are relatively tiny and enclosed bodies of water, making it far easier for NATO or U.S. aircraft to locate and attack the individual Russian missile cruisers trapped within them.

On the other hand, the Varyag would be far more exposed out in the vastness of the Pacific, far beyond tight effective ground-based fighter cover. U.S. aircraft carriers, each of which can carry 80 to 90 combat planes that can fly far farther than 300 miles out beyond their ships, should be capable with their advanced radars of locating an individual Slava-class cruiser like the Varyag long before it could approach to within attack range of them.

Still, the Pacific is big, and even with the advantages the United States enjoys from its unrivaled constellation of orbiting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellites, the Varyag could hope to stay undetected long enough to deter U.S. carrier battle groups from operating freely in the Western Pacific.

Next: Slava deterrent strategy

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