I was thinking about the Kusnetsov's smoke-stack today. Sort of amusing, many memes created, but let's face it; she carries a dozen+ fast jets (soon to be twenty-ish), twenty-odd heliwoppers, and provides a well-protected landing strip for them wherever there's deep water. All that without considering the escort group. Maybe not nuclear propulsion, and I'm sure it'd be even more nerve-wracking using one in this age of clever-bastard missiles and torpedoes, but any large carrier's still a hell of a weapon.
I wish Britain still had a great navy. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the power of the RN was one of the things that helped keep the general peace in Europe for 100 years and enabled my own country and the other transatlantic states to develop undisturbed by the European powers.
Bumping an old thread as I was reading about it the other day. Admiral Kuznetsov won't return to service before 2024 - Naval News