Serov

The preliminary design of Project 71 for an aircraft carrier with low displacement based on the hull and mechanisms of the Project 68 ship was developed in 1939; however, the ship's low hangar capacity and insufficient number of airplanes drew criticism. It was planned to increase dimensions of the hangar and increase the number of airplanes on board to 40–45 machines, all of which should have been fighters. A requirement was also formed to increase the number of dual-purpose guns to 12 and investigate the possibility of replacing them with eight 130 mm coupled mounts. Work continued in the form of a project for a heavy aircraft carrier codenamed 71B.