Editing Cruiser (section)

===Aircraft cruisers===
[[File:Carrier Baku.jpg|thumb|Soviet Navy's [[Soviet aircraft carrier Baku|''Admiral Gorshkov'']], Sold to [[Indian Navy|India]] as [[INS Vikramaditya|INS ''Vikramaditya'']].]]
{{main|Aircraft cruiser}}

From time to time, some navies have experimented with aircraft-carrying cruisers. One example is the Swedish {{ship|HSwMS|Gotland|1933|2}}. Another was the Japanese [[Japanese cruiser Mogami (1934)|''Mogami'']], which was converted to carry a large floatplane group in 1942. Another variant is the ''helicopter cruiser''. The further development of helicopter cruisers led to the creation of ships formally classified only as cruisers but significantly larger and effectively [[light aircraft carrier]]s. In the Soviet Union, a series of unusual hybrid ships of [[Kiev-class aircraft carrier|Project 1143]] (''Kiev'' class) were built in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Initially classified as anti-submarine cruisers, they were ultimately designated as "heavy [[aircraft cruiser]]s". These ships combined the architecture of cruisers and aircraft carriers and were armed with long-range anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles along with a deck for [[V/STOL|vertical take-off and landing]] aircraft.<ref name=":23">Biereżnoj, pp. 8–10</ref> Their full displacement of approximately 43,000 tons is typical for aircraft carriers.<ref name=":23" /> By hosting several helicopters, their primary mission was also anti-submarine warfare.<ref name=":23" /> The last example in service was the Soviet Navy's {{sclass|Kiev|aircraft carrier|4}}, whose last unit {{ship|Soviet aircraft carrier|Admiral Gorshkov||2}} was converted to a pure aircraft carrier and sold to [[India]] as {{ship|INS|Vikramaditya}}. The Russian Navy's {{ship|Russian aircraft carrier|Admiral Kuznetsov||2}} is nominally designated as an aviation cruiser but otherwise resembles a standard medium aircraft carrier, albeit with a [[surface-to-surface missile]] battery. The Royal Navy's aircraft-carrying {{sclass|Invincible|aircraft carrier|4}} and the Italian Navy's aircraft-carrying {{ship|Italian aircraft carrier|Giuseppe Garibaldi|551|2}} vessels were originally designated 'through-deck cruisers', but were since designated as small aircraft carriers<ref>{{Cite web |title=Portaeromobili (LHA) Classe Garibaldi |url=https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/forze-navali/Pagine/Garibaldi.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112025717/https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/forze-navali/Pagine/Garibaldi.aspx |archive-date=2020-11-12 |access-date=2020-11-01 |website=Marina Militare |language=it}}</ref> (although the 'C' in the pennant for ''Giuseppe Garibaldi'' indicated it retained some status as an aircraft-carrying cruiser). It was armed with missiles, but these were short-range self-defense missiles (anti-aircraft Aspide and anti-ship Otomat) and did not match the significance of its aviation capabilities.<ref>Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 204</ref> Similarly, the [[Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force]]'s {{sclass|Hyūga|helicopter destroyer|0}} "helicopter destroyers" are really more along the lines of helicopter cruisers in function and aircraft complement, but due to the [[Treaty of San Francisco]], must be designated as destroyers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/meet-helicopter-cruiser-half-aircraft-carrier-45482 |work=National Interest |accessdate=14 June 2023 |title=Meet the Helicopter-Cruiser: The Half Aircraft Carrier |date=23 February 2019 |author=David Axe }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=March 2025|reason=Cited article nowhere states that Japan under the Treaty is allowed destroyers but forbidden cruisers.}}

One cruiser alternative studied in the late 1980s by the United States was variously entitled a Mission Essential Unit (MEU) or CG V/STOL. In a return to the thoughts of the independent operations cruiser-carriers of the 1930s and the Soviet ''Kiev'' class, the ship was to be fitted with a hangar, elevators, and a flight deck. The mission systems were [[Aegis Combat System|Aegis]], SQS-53 sonar, 12 [[SV-22]] ASW aircraft and 200 [[Mark 41 Vertical Launching System|VLS]] cells. The resulting ship would have had a waterline length of 700 feet, a waterline beam of 97 feet, and a displacement of about 25,000 tons. Other features included an integrated electric drive and advanced computer systems, both stand-alone and networked. It was part of the U.S. Navy's "Revolution at Sea" effort. The project was curtailed by the sudden end of the Cold War and its aftermath, otherwise the first of class would have been likely ordered in the early 1990s.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}