Is it an aircraft or a boat?

[kilted1]

Probably few here have heard of the Ekranoplan program of the former Soviet Union. It is actually very real!

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More here: Caspian Sea Monsters.....Ekranoplan, WIGS

This one is in German (I think)

Ekranoplan Caspian Sea Monster ground effect plane

Wikipedia: Ground effect vehicle

Enjoy the wacky world of inventions ...

 

[Carlos]

Interesting. I can see why the military would jump on it.

 

[the macdonald]

Interesting. I can see why the military would jump on it.

Thanks for posting this, the Russian or really Soviet version was featured in a recent James Bond (not written by Ian Flemming) book, Devil May Care. The plot make intersting use of it's capabilites.

I wonder if it could handle choppy seas, the Capsian Sea is reletively tame compare to the Atlantic or Pacific.

 

[HistoryMajor]

I was gonna say, I know I've heard that name somewhere. Thanks for pointing that one out Mac!

 

[Centurian 803]

Fascinating!!! :cyclops:

 

[ftrplt]

I've seen intel pictures of this thing armed with nuke missiles. I guess the idea was to launch a bunch of these in various bodies of water to cause mayhem and other problems!! Evidently, not enough power to "fly" in ground effect and carry a meaningful payload. FTRPLT

 

[kilted1]

I always wondered why the various attempts never came to any meaningful addition to the former Soviet Military. I suspect it was a combination of lack of payload capacity and not performing well on the open ocean.

Still a fascinating platform ...