On 16 July 1976 she sailed from Sevastopol in the Black Sea, and on 20 July began testing her Yakovlev Yak-36M aircraft (four Yak-36M and one Yak-36MU onboard) under sea conditions in the Mediterranean off Crete. On 10 August 1976 she arrived in Severomorsk, Murmansk Oblast, and was attached to the Northern Fleet's 170th Anti-Submarine Warfare Brigade, and conducted extensive tests up to December. Between 12 and 19 April 1977 she took part in the "Sever-77" exercise, and on 26 June 1977 was reclassified from "Protivolodochnyye Kreysery" (PKR) "ASW cruiser" to "Tyazhelyye Avianesushchiye Kreysery" (TAVKR) "Heavy aircraft carrying cruiser". Between 20 December 1977 and 21 April 1978 she participated in operations in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. On 3 November 1978 she hit a sand bar, but suffered no damage. She took part in a local exercise on 4 August 1978, and on 11 October in final tests of the main missiles in the White Sea.