TX2Guns: Inside The Soviet Ekranoplan

Somewhat bizarre by today’s standards, but the Soviets were ahead in the concept of littoral water combat – the shallow areas just off a nation’s coastline. Check out the original. – NCS


This is the Lun-class ekranoplan, a formerly top-secret Soviet naval vessel that could skim just above the waves at jet-plane speeds, evading radar and anti-ship mines.

The ekranoplan during tests on the Caspian Sea in the 1980s
The ekranoplan during tests on the Caspian Sea in the 1980s

The vehicle was equipped with six launchers along its spine that could fire nuclear missiles powerful enough to destroy an aircraft carrier.

The vehicle made use of the so-called “ground effect” — a cushion of high pressure that forms under the wings of extremely low-flying aircraft, boosting speed and lift. Wave-skimming seabirds can often be seen utilizing the same phenomenon.

The ekranoplan in 2010
The ekranoplan in 2010

After the collapse of the U.S.S.R. and subsequent end of the Lun program, the “aircraft carrier killer” sat idle on this tightly guarded dock on the coast of Russia’s Daghestan region.

This summer, Russian urban explorer Lana Sator, 31, read about the ekranoplan being towed by sea to Derbent, a city in Daghestan, where it is due to be moved into a “patriotic park” and put on permanent display.

With the ekranoplan lolling in the waves awaiting its final transport to the military theme park, Sator told RFE/RL she booked a last-minute, $150 flight from her base in Moscow to Daghestan.

The ekranoplan sitting a few meters off the shore of Derbent.
The ekranoplan sitting a few meters off the shore of Derbent.

At around 1 a.m. on the morning of August 7, Sator and a friend stuffed cameras into watertight bags, walked along the moonlit coast, then waded through the waves toward the vehicle. Around the wing, Sator says the sea had scooped out “a deep hole in the sand” but the pair eventually managed to clamber on board and peer inside the vessel’s open door.

Sator’s companion -- his T-shirt still wet from the wade out to the wing -- inside the ekranoplan
Sator’s companion — his T-shirt still wet from the wade out to the wing — inside the ekranoplan

Inside the entrance, Sator says “light bulbs were on and a generator was humming very loudly.” Then they saw a security guard.

Controls inside the ekranoplan
Controls inside the ekranoplan

Somehow the guard was sleeping through the generator’s din. With the noise covering their footsteps, Sator and her companion — both dripping with seawater — were able to sneak past him and into the belly of the Soviet beast.

A radar dish stands tall in the tail of the ekranoplan. Sator says there are three different radar systems stacked atop each other in the tail of the craft.
A radar dish stands tall in the tail of the ekranoplan. Sator says there are three different radar systems stacked atop each other in the tail of the craft.

The pair headed away from the guard and into the rear of the vessel, then unbagged their cameras and flashes and got to work.

Sator says she was more excited than scared as they crept undetected through the dimly lit compartments. The vessel swayed gently in the waves like a boat.

The cockpit of the vessel: the ekranoplan required a crew of 15 when it was operational.
The cockpit of the vessel: the ekranoplan required a crew of 15 when it was operational.

After nearly an hour exploring the rear of the ekranoplan, the pair again tiptoed past the slumbering guard and made their way to the front where Sator was able to photograph the airplane-like control room.

A radar operator’s station: Sator says some places in the Lun were cluttered with “chicken and cakes” left by the men working on readying the vessel for public display.
A radar operator’s station: Sator says some places in the Lun were cluttered with “chicken and cakes” left by the men working on readying the vessel for public display.

Finally, at about 3 a.m., with scores of photos on their cameras, the pair once more passed the guard — who they noticed had turned over in his sleep — and stepped off the wing into the warm seawater, which by then was deep enough that they plunged unexpectedly in over their heads.

After getting safely to shore and later watching the oblivious guard emerge from the craft to stretch and yawn at the sunrise, Sator said her mission could “be considered accomplished.”

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About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

12 Comments

  1. Green Mountain Shooter August 22, 2020 at 11:28

    The Russians, especially during the era of USSR, never fail to amaze me! That is an incredible piece of engineering.

  2. Johnny Paratrooper August 22, 2020 at 11:41

    https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2015/10/china-seeks-100-passenger-wing-in.html

    -China is building about 100 fifty passenger seaplanes. The first flight was initially forecast for 2015 but was postponed until 2016
    -China Aviation Industry General Aircraft has received 17 orders from domestic companies. One of the buyers will use it to carry tourists to reefs and islands in the South China Sea. The AG-600 will play an important role in forest fire control, maritime search and rescue, personnel and supply transport and law enforcement tasks at sea.
    -The plane can fly a round trip between Sanya in Hainan province and the shoal of Zengmu Ansha, the southernmost point of China’s territory, without refueling.
    -The AG-600 can carry 50 people during a maritime search and rescue mission. To extinguish forest fires, it can take on 12 metric tons of water from a lake or sea within 20 seconds and pour it on the fire.
    -Powered by four turboprop engines, it will be the world’s largest amphibious aircraft, surpassing Japan’s ShinMaywa US-2 and Russia’s Beriev Be-200.
    -It will have a maximum takeoff weight of 53.5 tons and an operational range of about 4,500 kilometers.

    https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2015/07/05/irans-building-a-new-flying-boat/

    https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/15542/russia-supposedly-bringing-back-giant-ekranoplans-for-arctic-missions

    It would appear that these are going to ferry Chinese troops in the South China Sea, and likely Australia and New Zealand.
    This is going to be used to ferry Russian equipment and troops into the Arctic. Allowing them to set up Anti-Air and Anti-Ship systems.

    They tested them for rescue as well. Which is interesting because that’s a great cover for military development and testing.
    A fast rescue plane makes sense during a massive sea conflict. This will give your sailors the moral boost they need to risk freezing to death in Arctic waters in a Peer-to-Peer Conflict.

    The cargo capacity specs on these vehicles is absolutely ridiculous.

    What are the odds that Russia, China, and Iran are working on these things at the same time?

    • Johnny Paratrooper August 22, 2020 at 13:34

      https://www.rdcaqualines.co/fleets/

      You can buy one if you like. Would you like a Personal Aeromarine Craft? Or a commercial transport?

      https://newatlas.com/wigetworks-airfish-8-ground-effect-vehicle/56184/

      AirFoil Development’s Fischer Flugmechanik subsidiary was a vehicle for the GEV designs of Dr. Alexander Martin Lippisch, who pioneered the reverse delta/T-tail configuration in the 1960s. At the time, the chief competition was Russian-built Ekranoplans, with multiple wings, but these couldn’t handle rough seas, because they’d come out of ground effect at altitudes just 10 percent of their wingspan. Lippisch’s reverse delta design could operate at altitudes as high as 50 percent of its wingspan, meaning his craft could either handle rougher seas, or be made significantly smaller and more convenient to use with existing marine facilities.

      There is nothing stopping this vehicle from flying over land, or desert, and putting itself into a lake or stream. Except for some trees. But it can just fly right down the highway if it wanted to. Landing is a different story, but you can easily add some after market landing gear to the military model.

      This is the basically the land speeder that we saw in Star Wars.

      Watch the video at the end of the article. Yikes Fam. This is a hell of an “AeroMarine” vehicle. Check the specs. As a car/motorcycle guy, I would argue that this outclasses any Cigarette boat, Coast Guard Interceptor, or Light Attack Frigate.

      All you gotta do is super charge those engines, a few extra gas tanks, and add some weapons.

      It takes regular petroleum products. So it doesn’t need Avgas.

  3. Alan Burquist August 22, 2020 at 12:17

    Want a seaplane, just make one that flies, they can carry air launched versions of those carrier killers too.. Ekranoplan always seemed like a Rube Goldberg to me.. USA had some odd experimental jet seaplanes and flying boats too, back in 50s and 60s.. Never came to anything, projects cancelled..

    Seems like Jet engines don’t like ingesting seawater, so some unusual designs resulted..

    • NC Scout August 22, 2020 at 12:28

      Rube Goldberg is a nice way of putting it. The concept was indeed interesting and to some degree, logical, for the era.

      Littoral combat takes place in shallow areas, meaning a boat with low draft. The advantage of this is staying too low for surface radar but too high for sonar to be of use. The plane’s intent wasn’t to fly, so to speak, but skim the surface of the water to avoid detection.

      But no…injecting seawater is definitely not a good thing, and that’s just one of the pitfalls in the design. I doubt it would do well in heavy seas, either, and it probably has a hideous fuel consumption rate.

      The US Navy flirted with this idea, commissioning two different purpose-built boats for the role. But as far as I know the project is either on hold or cancelled. Its just too expensive for a modern corvette-sized vessel to be fielded in such a limited role.

    • Johnny Paratrooper August 22, 2020 at 12:41

      These things didn’t go anywhere. They are back and better than ever. With 21st century materials sciences incorporated into the design. Think Fiberglass and Carbonfiber. Basically, stealth.

      A short list of things you can do with a Ekranoplane.

      -Drop anti-sub distraction devices and sonar interference devices.
      -Jamming and other EWS
      -Rapid attack and retreat
      -Rapid deployment
      -Anti-ship warfare operations
      -Anti-Radar attacks on coastal systems.
      -Stealth raids as they fly under radar
      -Immune to Mines, and detectors.
      -Pretend to be other birds.
      -Static surface defenses
      -Confusing enemy radar using jamming missiles to create the illusion there are hundreds of these things.

      These things can do all the things that an Aircraft Carrier, Sub, Amphibious assault, and Attack frigates can do. Granted, they cannot copy the capabilities of all of these aircraft and ships combined. I’ll admit that. They also have a lot of potential for use as anti-submarine weapons.

      They are also a fraction of the cost. The food alone to feed an aircraft carrier is more expensive than one of these birds fully loaded.
      “Quantity has a quality of its own” -Uncle Stalin It stands to reason they will role out thousands of these things. There are resources in the form of mothballed civilian aircraft all over the world.

      https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/qatar-airways-cuts-fleet. This is happening all over the world. Not just Qatar Airlines.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-submarine_warfare
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-submarine_weapon
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-3_Orion
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_P-8_Poseidon

      If you had 6-12 craft of these things. Each with it’s own role. EWS, Anti-Sub, Anti-Ship, Anti-Radar, resupply, C&C.
      You could run riot on a modern Battle Carrier Group.
      It would look like 1990 Honda Civics racing 2020 1000cc liter bikes in LeMans. The outcome would be very obvious.

      • Alan Burquist August 22, 2020 at 13:20

        These things are Harpoon missile magnets.. LOL, gigantic targets, airborne radar will spot them easily! Contrary to popular belief, they do not have Jet plane speed, only about 350mph, like an average WW2 propeller plane.. And these machines don’t have the steel structure of a ship, to withstand damage and continue to function.. They are fragile, like an airplane.. One hit, bye bye!

        • Johnny Paratrooper August 22, 2020 at 13:46

          Check my other comments my friend.
          These things are operational. And have already been built with the specs that matches the needs to carry a squad plus gear.
          Also, Fiberglass Airplanes going 350-500 miles per hour shred into pieces if they are damaged or hit with AA fire. You are correct.
          However, This is a 120-200 mile per hour bird that can throttle down and land on the water safely within seconds. You also need to hit it first. Which is the hard part. And nowhere has any of these videos said that the new ones cannot take off and fly like a regular plane. Which I think we can assume they could due, assuming they aren’t fully loaded.

          This is better than a seaplane, and better than a cigarette boat. The best of both worlds. Drug dealers use ocean water to cool the surface of their Narco-Subs and their Cigarrette boats. Resulting in a craft that is totally invisible. These things could lay in wait, like a strike team. Ready to sweep into the area and raise serious hell. You won’t see them there, you won’t hear them, and you can’t chase them. They almost certainly use a corvette motor. Which means they NEVER break down until the propeller bearings need to be replaced. And even then, You can probably get away with using wore out bearings because these things can land immediately in case of emergency. No lose of crew, or equipment, in the case of an emergency use.

          I don’t have nearly the experience on the water as guys like Bracken, or the other author whose name escapes me. But I did grow up in Maryland around a lot of very nice sea vessels. Even the very best cigarette boat isn’t as fast as these the base model Aeromarinecraft. It would be like trying to race a 1990’s Honda Civic against a 2020’s Liter Bike. Less cost, less maintenance, less fuel, more cargo, and they can handle rough seas with their new swept forward wing design.

          This will be a part of every Navy in the very near future.

      • Curious Passerby August 23, 2020 at 00:28

        Interesting. A relic of a vanished age. That being said, I suspect the future of navies is autonomous drones. You could get more bang for your buck with drone subs (no crew to worry about), drone carriers full of aerial drones and drone missiles. Imagine how much smaller and cheaper such vessels would be with no human crew to worry about. The savings on decommissioning the legacy ships would be immense. No more giant self-licking ice cream cone fleets trying to protect missile magnet carriers, just some dudes sitting in Norfolk manning the remote controls and a vastly shrunken fleet of ships intended to fill very specific roles. No more jet fighters when you can just have stacks of remote control missiles doing donuts in the sky outside the target area awaiting orders. If they’re needed, send in a wave and assess the damage. If you need to launch more, send in another wave. If the target is demolished, your toughest decision is whether to recover your missile drones or self-destruct them. None of your people are in any more danger than if they were at home playing Fortnite.

  4. Johnny Paratrooper August 22, 2020 at 13:18

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHNitgLzwKE

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVdH_dYlVB8

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hv2dsVkA38

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-sWokqiVHw Not related to the military craft. This would make an excellent craft for the Chinese Sea Dragons, and the Russian UDT teams. Small, light, and effective. It cannot be sunk, or crashed when damaged. It simply becomes it’s own lifeboat. I didn’t watch the entire video before commenting, but I would bet money it has an LS1-7(Corvette motor) under the hood.

    N.C. Scout is correct. These things probably did have poor fuel efficiency in the 1960s. I doubt that is still the case. I would argue the efficiency is greater than a boat, and less than an aircraft.

    This is terrifying.

    • FlyBy August 22, 2020 at 19:57

      The Russian aircraft/boat looks awfully big and heavy. Jet engines do not do well with ingesting foreign objects (sea water and birds). They destroy the vanes in the compressor and turbine sections of the engine, causing catastrophic engine damage. Additionally, the sea state and weather would be a major factor. Sea state (height of waves) would need to be fairly low, almost like glass and no weather fronts with heavy rains and seas. Any descent sea state would keep this thing grounded. In the video, it looked as if it skimmed the sea surface which might make it a target for some mines. It would also be a prime target for an air launched anti-shipping missile such as the Exocet and the Harpoon.

      As far as using this concept against a carrier battle group, It could have some merits, to a point. The smaller vehicle in JP’s videos would have a speed advantage over an approaching boat. However, carrier battle groups are deep water craft. Sea state and weather would again be issues for this craft (like it would be for the Caspian Monster). Additionally, it would not escape the scrutiny of the E2 (think carrier born AWACS). If the carrier is at sea, the E2 is airborne, 24/7. A quick vector of the fighter CAP (Combat Air Patrol), also always airborne when the carrier is at sea and this vehicle would be destroyed if it approached within xx miles of the battle group. Sub-surface stealth would be the way to go IMO.

      Such vehicles would make more sense in attempting to land small teams along the shoreline for clandestine operations.

      As a side note on the carrier battle group. I once flew with a CMDR who did his sea tour as a tactical operations officer on a carrier. During his qualification board for certification, he was asked, What would you do if an enemy submarine surfaced within the battle group and attempted to launch a torpedo at the carrier? His reply was, I vector one of the Frigates between the sub and the carrier to intercept/draw the torpedo away from the carrier. He was then asked, How do you think the captain of the frigate would feel about that?
      His reply, I don’t give a shit about his feelings. He passed his board.

      The Navy doesn’t fool around when it comes to the carriers. At least that was how it use to be. My $0.10s.

  5. Anonymous August 22, 2020 at 13:40

    5

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