POTD: Abandoned Russian Ekranoplan

 

Source: "It’s a Boat, It’s a Plane, No, It’s an Abandoned Russian Sea Monster"--Autoevolution

Pictured above is the result of the Soviet Union's attempt to develop a  wing in ground effect (WIG) craft during the Cold War. A couple years ago it was being towed across the Caspian see when the tow line broke and it wound up stranded on a beach. Popular Mechanics relates:

    The Ekranoplan was the Soviet Union's attempt to build a craft capable of exploiting the wing in ground effect (WIG). As an aircraft flies closer to the ground, air pressure builds between the wing and the flat surface below. This creates a cushion of air beneath the plane. Meanwhile, the low altitude eliminates wingtip vortices, decreasing drag.

    During the Cold War, the Soviet Union developed large, turbojet-powered craft that used the WIG effect to “fly” above the wavetops. The Soviets designed the Lun-class WIG craft to use the effect to float just inches over the surface of a lake or ocean, adding eight forward-mounted turbojet engines to give them a top speed of 373 miles per hour.

    This super low altitude ensured they were below the radar horizon of enemy warships until the ships were within range of the Lun’s six SS-N-22 “Sunburn” missiles. A Mach 3 sea-skimming missile, the Sunburn had a range of 64 miles, flew from 16 to 32 feet above the surface of the water, and could pack a nuclear warhead. This made them capable of sinking the largest ships, including U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.

    Today, the Ekranoplan–the only Lun ever built—lies stranded off a beach in the Caspian Sea. This summer, the craft was in the process of being towed from a nearby naval base to a museum when something appeared to have gone terribly wrong. Instead of making it to its new home, the Ekranoplan ended up stranded in shallow water, where it's drawing visitors.

It has since been successfully recovered.

    The Soviets abandoned the program because the plane flew so low that it was unable to be used in rough seas. However, the concept may not be completely dead. Earlier this week, it was reported that DARPA is funding two wing in ground effect craft. 

    Two teams — General Atomics working with Maritime Applied Physics Corporation and Aurora Flight Sciences working with Gibbs & Cox and ReconCraft — will develop designs for DARPA’s Liberty Lifter Seaplane Wing-in-Ground Effect full-scale demonstrator. The Liberty Lifter program aims to demonstrate a leap-ahead in operational capability by designing, building, floating, and flying a long-range, low-cost X-Plane capable of seaborne strategic and tactical heavy lift.

    The planned Liberty Lifter demonstrator will be a large flying boat similar in size and capacity to the C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft. Goals include takeoff and land in Sea State 4, sustained on-water operation up to Sea State 5, and extended flight close to the water in ground effect with the capability to fly out of ground effect at altitudes up to 10,000 feet above sea level.

Interesting.