Soviet Aircraft Carriers

Like all aircraft carriers in game, the Soviet line’s squadrons define their playstyle. Each ship in the line uses a distinctive full-squadron attack pattern, simultaneously unleashing munitions from up to eight planes in a single powerful strike. Higher tier planes gain a temporary jet boost on takeoff, significantly reducing the time from launch to strike.

However, this power comes at a cost. As all aircraft in a squadron attack simultaneously, Soviet carriers cannot pre-drop to mitigate plane reserve attrition. Each lost plane also directly reduces the strike’s maximum potential damage. With no squadron subdivisions and low plane durability, sorties lack the opportunity for a second drop, making attacks all-or-nothing.

Furthermore, the line’s planes are slower and more fragile than their peer counterparts, which greatly limits their ability to loiter or circle around for a better run. Captains must fullheartedly commit to each attack: waving off will waste half of squadron with nothing to show.

As such, these ships act as powerful, brittle cannons. Like all other carriers, even successful strikes will lose planes to AA, but slow plane restoration exacerbates this further, and limits the carrier’s effective reserves.

Finally, the high tier ships’ jet boost only magnifies the above. Shorter time-to-strike means more strikes (and thus higher damage potential) per game. Skilled captains should exploit this with aggressive positioning. But if these strikes whiff into flak, this just results in faster deplaning.

With all of this in mind, the Soviet aircraft carriers reward good aim, careful target selection, and active-force preservation. In addition, they punish misplays in either with zero-damage sorties and a quick deplaning.