History of the Caspian Monster

In the 60s of the 20th century, a unique weapon was created in the Soviet Union. A heavy ekranoplan, capable of flying above water at an altitude of just a few meters at a speed of 500 km / h, while being invisible to enemy radars, carried on its board six launchers of the Mosquito supersonic missile. In the West she was nicknamed "Sunburn."

The impacted ekranoplan, which crawled up to the salvo distance, posed a great threat. The Mosquito missiles launched by him in a cloud of water dust, in zigzags, were moving toward their intended purpose. It was virtually impossible to consider them. When approaching the ship, the rocket rose several meters up and dealt a powerful blow, breaking through the deck or superstructure. The main explosion took place already inside the ship, leaving no chance of salvation.

A little later, scientists modernized the ekranoplan. So there appeared his "younger brother" - the ekranolet "Eaglet". He could move in two modes - both in the airplane and in the mode of ekranoplan. To switch to airplane mode, the maximum thrust of the engines was turned on.

"Lun" and "Eaglet" were supposed to be part of the Black Sea Fleet of the USSR. The main tasks of the new machines, in addition to landing or cargo delivery, were to search and destroy enemy submarines and surface ships.

In 1979, ekranolets were even adopted by the USSR Navy. It was the world's only serial combat vehicle of this type. The "Eaglet" could transfer up to 200 marines in full armament or two armored tracked vehicles. He developed a speed of up to 400 kilometers per hour and covered a distance of one and a half thousand kilometers.

In total, five ekranolets were made, which made up the 11th separate air group, subordinate to the General Staff of Naval Aviation. But the project did not reach full capacity.

Today, the only remaining ekranoplan "Lun" stands on the pier in the Dagestan Kaspiysk.

I did not know about the missiles but I do remember when it first became known to the world. Neat concept but evidently not neat enough for Russia's military purposes.

a reply to: RussianTroll

The Ekranoplan could make a great transport vehicle given the payload she could carry at almost 500kmh.

I'm thinking with the developments in material science and engine technologies these things could be rather useful aside from the military applications.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: RussianTroll

The Ekranoplan could make a great transport vehicle given the payload she could carry at almost 500kmh.

I'm thinking with the developments in material science and engine technologies these things could be rather useful aside from the military applications.

The project was apparently abandoned for two reasons:
1. Great cost and power consumption
2. The inability to use when the sea is more than 3 points. This setting limited application to inland seas.

Very cool planes with an innovative concept. I've seen lots of pics of some of them sitting left to rot, are any preserved in museum settings?

Also of interest is the Soviet buran space shuttle program, to this day just sitting in a giant building.

Great thread but the plane itself just looks disastrous. So close to the surface!

Ever Since Peter the great Russia has done things large. They have been at the forefront of innovation particularly in weapons development. Thanks for a very interesting thread!

a reply to: RussianTroll

Yeh, sea conditions do seem to be of concern.

Rogue waves may also be an issue with such a contraption but the possibilities are abundant in this day of age if the technology was ever to be taken further.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: RussianTroll

Yeh, sea conditions do seem to be of concern.

Rogue waves may also be an issue with such a contraption but the possibilities are abundant in this day of age if the technology was ever to be taken further.

The concept just changed. The Armed Forces of Russia abandoned expensive platforms for delivering warheads to the final target, modernizing the delivery vehicles themselves - missiles. Now the concept in the Russian naval forces is dominated by many small and cheap platforms for missiles that do not fall under the treaty of limitation of strategic weapons and medium-range missiles, while the concept is strictly defensive. Coastal and continental platforms are used, as well as platforms from which they start when they are in the territorial waters and airspace of Russia, which are extremely low vulnerable.
The United States is captured by the colonial concept of control over continents and logistics routes, which in modern times is very vulnerable. Carrier groups now become simply large and convenient targets when faced with a fairly strong enemy.
The ekranoplanes do not fit into the modern concept of Russia, although the idea itself is very beautiful.

originally posted by: caterpillage
Very cool planes with an innovative concept. I've seen lots of pics of some of them sitting left to rot, are any preserved in museum settings?

Also of interest is the Soviet buran space shuttle program, to this day just sitting in a giant building.

Greetings, my old friend)))

The Buran program was abandoned due to the collapse of the USSR and problems with the ship's coating plates. Although this concept was erroneous in those conditions. Unfortunately, this was confirmed by the disaster with the Shuttle program, when people died - American astronauts. It was very sad. But, strangely enough, the collapse of the Soviet Union allowed modern Russia to avoid these mistakes. Perhaps in the future the program of reusable manned spacecraft will resume, but on other technical solutions.

a reply to: RussianTroll

If these Ekranoplan were ever to be used as a missile platform, in this day of age, it would probably be quite easy to track the wake and heat signature of such a massive plane, and i imagine modern-day radar would be able to pick it up above 50ft or so.

Might be a viable option to say, transport Man, goods, and machine, to the likes of say offshore oil platforms or other facilities.