During the Soviet era, the military developed gigantic ekranoplanes. The largest model ever built is the object “KM” – better known as the Caspian Sea Monster. It entered service in the mid-1960s. As a unique piece. In 1980 the sea monster sank when the pilot tried to start KM without the necessary thrust, the monster tipped forward and sank. At the end of the 1970s, the smaller but equally powerful Lun class – the “Duck” – entered service. These jets were designed as fleet destroyers and were armed with heavy anti-ship missiles. They reached a speed of 550 km/h and had a range of 2000 kilometers.
The Ducks each carried six SS-N-22 Sunburn missiles (P-80 Moskit and P-270 Moskit-M). The rockets had a range of over 120 and later 160 kilometers. That was an outstanding value at the time. The warhead of the weapon, which weighed around four tons, weighed over 300 kilograms. It was designed to penetrate the ship’s wall amidships – the warhead would only detonate inside the enemy ship. Due to its size, a hit would have instantly knocked out a ship the size of a destroyer. The Sunburn’s nuclear variant could have destroyed an entire fleet.
Because of the extremely low flight of the rocket and a warning time of less than 20 seconds, there was no resistance against the Sunburn.
Ekranoplane
The “duck” and the “monster” were intended to crush NATO’s fleets
The end of the program
In the early 1990s, the military ekranoplane project was discontinued after the collapse of the USSR. The advantage of such a ground effect aircraft is the combination of high speed, a very large payload and – compared to an aircraft – low fuel consumption. Despite the short wings, such designs are in principle capable of flying freely. However, they achieve their optimal operation just above the surface. Then an air roller builds up under the stubby wings on which the ekranoplan rides. That’s why these vehicles rely on water or ice as a travel route. Overland, the air roller would leave a trail of destruction behind it. At high speed, the rotating air cushion acts like a solid body – as if a huge concrete roller were rolling over the land. These columbines were originally developed in the Soviet Union because the country has many bodies of water and rivers, but few roads. In the civilian sector, the smaller models were then replaced by the more versatile helicopters.
In the military sector, the low altitude has another advantage: ekranoplanes can only be discovered very late by enemy radar, as long as the radar is stationed on the ground or on ships. At long distances, ekranoplanes can only be discovered from the air.
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