Russia Supposedly Bringing Back Giant Ekranoplans For Arctic Missions - Giant Ekranoplan 1.jpg

more at
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...rctic-missions

The Soviet era's enigmatic wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) "ekranoplans" are set to
make a comeback according to various Russianmedia reports. In particular, a
massive 600 ton design that is intended to carry out resupply and search and
rescue missions in the Arctic is said to be in development, with flight testing
planned for sometime in 2022 or 2023.

The design, dubbed "Rescuer" is described as being be 305 feet long with a
wingspan of 233 feet. Supposedly the craft's large size was decided upon due to
its ability to operate in rougher sea states than smaller alternatives and
because it can fly over long distances, described by Russian sources as "several
thousand kilometers."

Naval expert Alexander Mozgovoy told the Russian news paper Izvestia that
"ekranoplans are much more economical than airplanes, it will be possible to
quickly move more cargo for a longer distance... If they manage to equip their
air-cushioned landing gear, they will be able to land even on snow ridges."

According to these claimed metrics, we are talking about a remake of the largest
ekranoplan ever created, known commonly as the Caspian Sea Monster. That craft
got its name from startled CIA image intelligence analysts who spotted the huge
and mysterious craft in satellite imagery during the depth of the Cold War. Due
to its strange configuration and the KM painted on its wings, it was first
dubbed the "Kaspian Monster." This later morphed into "Caspian Sea Monster," a
reference to the mythical Loch Ness Monster. In reality the KM stood for
"Prototype Ship" in Russian.

The Caspian Sea Monster flew in testing for 15 years, starting in 1965 until it
crashed in 1980. Fast forward to today, and the once shadowy Soviet-era program
has captured the imagination of the public, with the charismatic ekranoplans
being fairly popular topics seen in everything from documentaries to technology
blogs. But even with all the hype, the fact is that large wing-in-ground-effect
(WIG) aircraft never caught on, albeit much smaller models have been produced
for certain applications.

Iran in particular has a pocket armada of small WIG aircraft.

https://youtu.be/R3mvLR9qb20

&

https://youtu.be/iINbB1Y5F4c



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