https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lun-class_ekranoplan
Only one built, and it’s still on the shore of the Caspian sea:
- OpenStreetMap: https://www.osm.org/?mlat=41.94067&mlon=48.37885&zoom=18&layers=M
- Gmaps satellite: https://www.google.com/maps?ll=41.94067%2C48.37885&q=41.94067%2C48.37885&hl=en&t=h&z=18
General characteristics
- Crew: 15 (6 officers, 9 enlisted)
- Capacity: 137 t (302,000 lb)
- Length: 73.8 m (242 ft 2 in)
- Wingspan: 44 m (144 ft 4 in)
- Height: 19.2 m (63 ft 0 in)
- Wing area: 550 m2 (5,900 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 286,000 kg (630,522 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 380,000 kg (837,757 lb)
- Powerplant: 8 × Kuznetsov NK-87 turbofans, 127.4 kN (28,600 lbf) thrust each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 550 km/h (340 mph, 300 kn)
- Cruise speed: 450 km/h (280 mph, 240 kn) at 2.5 m (8 ft)
- Range: 2,000 km (1,200 mi, 1,100 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 5 m (16 ft) in ground effect
Armament
- Guns: two 23mm Pl-23 cannon in a twin tail turret and two 23mm Pl-23 cannon in a twin turret under forward missile tubes
- Missiles: six launchers for P-270 Moskit Sunburn antiship missiles
There’s something to be said for the aesthetic of old Soviet technology. It feels almost surreal, like an engineer’s fever dream.
This is like the Endgame of hovercrafts lmao
I love it. It looks like it shouldn’t work, but it did and it did it well