Ekranoplan is a Russian word it means 'screen craft' or 'skimmer'. It is not a plane nor is it a ship, moreover its a mixture of both. The craft moves along on a dynamic cushion of air that is generated by its forward movement. It has similar characteristics of the common hovercraft in that it flies just above the surface of the water as it moves. However, it will not hover whilst stationary but  just sit and float  in the water like a boat.

These craft are big and fast and were kept secret from the west until the fall of communism in the early 1990's, when information about them was slowly revealed.  It can quite easily be envisaged a hundred of such craft zooming across the ocean, relatively undetected flying underneath  radar to invade a country.

By the time that country realized what was going on, it would have been too late.  The front of the fuselage would have opened to allow soldiers, tanks, trucks, jeeps, and armored cars to deploy and invade.

You have to imagine several hundred of these craft, all flying at over 290 knots, all under radar in a mass invasion.  We could then fully realise the element of surprise that they would have had.

Image by Paul McDonell

Never underestimate the Russians, they are practical, innovative, resourceful and militaristically astute.  This relatively simple craft that just uses a bit of leverage from the air around its short wings is something that the western powers had not fully researched, if at all.  You have to admit its one hell of ship, fast, manoeuvrable, and heavily armed but maybe not so well protected.  Unlike a warship that has armor plating, the Ekranoplan would be susceptible to enemy firepower, a couple of rocket or bazooka hits could seriously damage or render an Ekranoplan  inoperable.

Despite any short comings though, a very ambitious programme was launched in 1960 after the Ekranoplan successfully passed all flight tests. The KM or ' Caspian Sea Monster'  a 540 ton machine was built and it was many years in advance of western technology. The reason why such a big craft was built was to test the fundamentals of this type of design, the tests worked and in 1967 a speed of 297 knots and a height of 20 meters was achieved, even though the maximum allowance was initially only 3 meters.

As the Ekranoplan picks up speed, the air is compressed under its short stabilizing wings until enough pressure produces lift and this supports the craft. This is known as a Wing-In-Ground effect and these type of craft are referred to as WIG's, or WIG specification craft. With no water-hull friction, these vehicles can travel at tremendous speeds.

Are these things big?...you kidding ?

You have to envisage the size of a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet when regarding these Ekranoplan's, but they are bigger, have more power and travel  just a few feet over the waters surface.  Infinitely faster than any sea going vessel ever devised the Ekranoplan would be a marvel to behold.  The front view of the Ekranoplan is quite impressive, it looks sleek, aerodynamic and quite formidable as it quietly rests in the sea.

It looks like the crew are having a party on the wings !  This also helps to give some representation of its size and also how wide the wings are.

The turbo jet engines can be better appreciated for their size when a person is standing in close proximity to them.  The red discs in the end of the turbo jets engines are there to protect them from any foreign bodies entering whilst they are not being used.

Below are two Youtube  videos of the Ekranoplan and some great footage of it in flight.  These videos were once ultra top secret Russian material but are now available for all to view. 

Below is another video, as these Youtube videos have a habit of getting deleted, I don't know why as this is no longer "The BIG Secret"

The terrific speed that these craft can reach is partially due to the fact that there is no friction between the hull of the craft and the water. This of course is a factor that keeps normal ships at such a comparatively slow speed, as they must push themselves through the water and not over it.

All Ekranoplan's are amphibious and will easily fly over land just as well as the sea, and at high speed, just as long as the surface is relatively flat.  Ekranoplan's usually begin and end their journeys in the sea for the greatest convenience, but it doesn't really matter.

Below an Ekranoplan starts to warm up ready for manoeuvres. Yeah, its like I said...they are amphibious as well !

A Wing-In-Ground effect program was started in earnest in 1960 at the Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau in Russia, under maximum secrecy. At that time, the bureau was heavily engaged in the design and manufacture of hydrofoil ships. The first WIG was a three ton ship called the SM-1, it was hard to manoeuvre, unstable and needed an extremely high take off speed. The monster below can reach speeds in excess of 290 knots, stating that speed was not really an issue.

Rostislav Alexiev was the chief designer of these vehicles at the CHDB and he realized that a large rear t-wing was the answer to the vessels stability problems. Once a T-wing was installed on a Ekranoplan in 1962 the stability problem had been resolved and the ships could reach very high speeds.

The last Ekranoplan from the former Soviet Union was the 400 ton LUN. It was built in 1987 with 100% military application in mind as a missile launcher and troop carrying ship. It was equipped with six large missiles on top of the fuselage, and could carry tanks and trucks in its large cargo hold.  Also it must be reiterated here that it would not have been detected by radar as it would have travelled under the radars waves.  As I understand, modern radar now has the ability to scan vessels on the surface of the sea.

It could reach speeds of up to 300 knots which is unprecedented for what is basically a water based vessel. No enemy ships would have had the slightest chance of intercepting this vehicle by any means due to this high speed of travel.

Eight NK87 turbofan engines give ample power as the Ekranoplan seen below accelerates across the ocean at terrific speed, notice also that it is bristling with long range ballistic missiles.

At the time when the Soviet Union fell apart there was a second LUN under construction, it was about 90 percent finished when the military funding stopped.  This was because of Russia's poor financial situation and also the end of the cold war. Later the eventual collapse of communism was enough to create further financial upheavals in much of Russia's economy.

The versatile Ekranoplan can achieve a good clearance above the waves.  It can fly the same height over ground too, as long as its not too hilly.

Most countries have now built prototypes of the Ekranoplan design as it has very useful application both in the military and commercial fields. As yet no commercial flights have been instigated but there are reports that a lot of private ventures are being developed, mostly in the USA.

Boeing in Seattle USA have shown an interest in the WIG idea and have discussed a concept to build a huge WIG craft with military needs in mind for a long range heavy transport craft.  Named 'The Pelican' the 500ft wing span craft it is proposed would carry 2,800,000 lbs of freight. The ride height would be established at around 20 feet off the ground but a ceiling altitude of 20,000 feet is being considered as in conventional aircraft.

The Pelican it is envisaged would operate from a runway with 76 retractable wheels although the dual concept of a water landing craft is on the agenda.

The wings on the Pelican are tilted downwards for the best WIG efficiency. The craft would be powered by four huge powerful turboprop engines. With an envisaged 2 cargo decks, one for at least 15 main battle tanks and the upper for a thousand troops, with a maximum takeoff weight up to 3,000 tons, the Pelican would have a wing area of more than an acre.

The Pelican is an interesting proposition, as big as the Caspian Sea Monster if not bigger.  The idea to move large heavy loads by 'aircraft' with a relatively small wingspan is appealing to military minds.  Boeing claims that a craft like the Pelican would be capable of a 10000 mile range fully loaded with over 700 tons of tanks, troops and equipment.

The latest news is that the Chinese are investing capital in the development of a prototype in-land waterways craft known as the Hubei Type One.

Chinese Hubei TY-1

Ekranoplan's may indeed be the Ocean liners of the future as they are very safe and very fast. I for one will be watching out for any new developments with this fantastic idea from Russia.

This is a must see...just click on this link  Delapidated Ekranoplan to see over 80 very interesting and rare photos of a now very dilapidated indeed, abandoned and rotting Ekranoplan...such is modern throw-away technology....

Its a great pity that this technology isn't looked into further, as an Ekranoplan would be a fabulous, fast, fun and very safe way for commercial travel.  Submarines would also present a great commercial way to travel, but as it is, only military application is associated with these marvellous methods of travel!