:Lun-class ekranoplan
{{short description|Soviet ground effect vehicle}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use British English |date=January 2022}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Lun-class ekranoplan 2021-09-24-3.jpg |Ship caption=Lun-class ekranoplan in 2021 }} {{Infobox ship class overview |Name=Lun |Builders= |Operators=*{{navy|Soviet Union}}
|Class before= |Class after= |Subclasses= |Cost= |Built range= |In service range=1987–late 1990s |In commission range= |Total ships building= |Total ships planned=2 |Total ships completed=1 |Total ships cancelled=1 |Total ships active= |Total ships laid up= |Total ships lost= |Total ships retired=1 |Total ships preserved=1 }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type=Attack/transport ground effect vehicle |Ship tonnage= |Ship displacement=Displacement n/a, weight 286 tonnes unloaded |Ship length={{cvt|73.8|m|ftin}} |Ship beam=(Wingspan) {{cvt|44|m|ftin}} |Ship height={{cvt|19.2|m|ftin}} |Ship draught=({{cvt|2.5|m|ftin}} |Ship draft= |Ship depth= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=8 × Kuznetsov NK-87 turbojet engines, {{convert|127.4|kN|lbf|abbr=on|lk=in}} thrust |Ship sail plan= |Ship speed={{convert|297|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{cvt|1000|nmi|lk=in}} |Ship endurance= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= 100 tonnes (220,000 pounds) |Ship troops= |Ship complement=six officers and nine enlisted men |Ship sensors=Puluchas search radar |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*6 × fixed-elevation P-270 Moskit anti-ship missile launchers
|Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship notes= }} |
{{Maplink|frame=yes||id=Q1411851|type=point|zoom=11|frame-width=310|text=Interactive map showing the position of the Lun-class ekranoplan when it beached in July 2020}}
The Lun-class ekranoplan (Soviet classification: Project 903){{Cite web |title=Small Missile Ship-Ekranoplan - Project 903 |url=http://russianships.info/eng/warships/project_903.htm |access-date=24 November 2023 |website=russianships.info |archive-date=2 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002231956/http://russianships.info/eng/warships/project_903.htm |url-status=live }} is the only ground effect vehicle (GEV) to ever be operationally deployed as a warship, deploying in the Caspian Flotilla. It was designed by Rostislav Alexeyev in 1975 and used by the Soviet and later Russian navies from 1987 until sometime in the late 1990s.{{cite web |url=http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/09/russia-revives-ekranoplan-project/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20151115225548/http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/09/russia-revives-ekranoplan-project/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 November 2015 |title=Russia Revives Its Soviet-Era Ekranoplan Project |last1=Shukla |first1=Vikas |date=9 September 2015 |website=ValueWalk |access-date=10 September 2015 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/the-soviet-unions-lun-class-ekanoplane-is-the-biggest-ground-effect-vehicle-ever-2014-7 |title=Here's The Astonishing Hovercraft That The Soviets Could Have Used To Invade Western Europe In The 80s |last1=Johnson |first1=Robert |last2=Rosen |first2=Armin |website=Business Insider |access-date=10 September 2015 |archive-date=21 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921082937/http://www.businessinsider.com/the-soviet-unions-lun-class-ekanoplane-is-the-biggest-ground-effect-vehicle-ever-2014-7 |url-status=live }}
It flew using lift generated by the ground effect acting on its large wings when within about {{convert|4|m|ft|spell=in}} above the surface of the water. Although they might look similar to traditional aircraft, ekranoplans like the Lun are not classified as aircraft, seaplanes, hovercraft, or hydrofoils. Rather, craft like the Lun-class ekranoplan are classified as maritime ships by the International Maritime Organization due to their use of the ground effect, in which the craft glides just above the surface of the water.{{cite book |author1=Liang Yun |author2=Alan Bliault |author3=Johnny Doo |title=WIG Craft and Ekranoplan: Ground Effect Craft Technology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oAXEphDmmEMC&pg=PA436 |date=3 December 2009 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-4419-0042-5 |pages=436– }}
The ground effect occurs when flying at an altitude of only a few metres above the ocean or ground; drag is greatly reduced by the proximity of the ground preventing the formation of wingtip vortices, thus increasing the efficiency of the wing. This effect does not occur at high altitude.{{Cite journal |last1=Cui |first1=E. |last2=Zhang |first2=X. |date=2010 |title=Chapter 18 Ground Effect Aerodynamics |s2cid=29236092 |language=en }}{{Cite web |date=4 April 2017 |title=Here's a Closer Look at the Soviet Navy's 1987 Lun-Class Ekranoplan |url=https://interestingengineering.com/a-closer-look-at-the-soviet-navys-1987-lun-class-ekranoplan |access-date=31 July 2021 |website=interestingengineering.com |language=en-US |archive-date=2 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002232101/https://pandg.tapad.com/tag?us_privacy=1YNY&referrer_url=&page_url=https%3A%2F%2Finterestingengineering.com%2Finnovation%2Fa-closer-look-at-the-soviet-navys-1987-lun-class-ekranoplan&owner=P%26G&bp_id=cafemedia&ch=%7B%22architecture%22%3A%22x86%22%2C%22bitness%22%3A%2264%22%2C%22brands%22%3A%5B%7B%22brand%22%3A%22%20Not%3BA%20Brand%22%2C%22version%22%3A%2299%22%7D%2C%7B%22brand%22%3A%22Google%20Chrome%22%2C%22version%22%3A%2297%22%7D%2C%7B%22brand%22%3A%22Chromium%22%2C%22version%22%3A%2297%22%7D%5D%2C%22mobile%22%3Afalse%2C%22model%22%3A%22%22%2C%22platformVersion%22%3A%225.15.0%22%7D&initiator=js |url-status=live }}
The name Lun comes from the Russian word for the harrier.{{cite journal |title=Neither Fish Nor Fowl |journal=Flying |url={{google books |id=DNnRQhLxu7YC |page=72 |plain-url=yes}} |date=July 1994 |page=72 |issn=0015-4806 }}
Design and development
File:Lun-class ekranoplan 1.jpg
File:Экраноплан Лунь.jpg displayed in a museum]]
The Lun-class ekranoplan was developed on the basis of the experimental KM ekranoplan, which was nicknamed the "Caspian Sea Monster".
The Lun was powered by eight Kuznetsov NK-87 turbofans mounted on forward canards, each producing {{convert|127.4|kN|lbf|abbr=on}} of thrust. It had a flying boat hull with a large deflecting plate at the bottom to provide a "step" for takeoff. It had a maximum cruising speed of {{convert|340|mph|km/h|order=flip}}.
Equipped for anti-surface warfare, it carried the P-270 Moskit (Mosquito) guided missile. Six missile launchers were mounted in pairs on the dorsal surface of its fuselage with advanced tracking systems mounted in its nose and tail.{{cite book |author=Ashley Hollebone |title=The Hovercraft Story |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4X47AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT33 |date=31 March 2012 |publisher=History Press Limited |isbn=978-0-7524-8512-6 |pages=33– }}
The only model of this class ever built to completion, the MD-160, entered service with the Soviet Navy Caspian Flotilla in 1987. It was retired in the late 1990s and sat unused at a Caspian Sea naval base in Kaspiysk until 2020.{{cite book |author=Norman Ferguson |title=The Little Book of Aviation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9J07AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT102 |date=1 April 2013 |publisher=History Press Limited |isbn=978-0-7524-9285-8 |pages=102– }}
The second Lun-class ekranoplan was partially built in the late 1980s. While its construction was underway, it was redesigned as a mobile field hospital for rapid deployment to any ocean or coastal location. It was named the Spasatel ("Rescuer"). Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and cancellation of military funding, construction of the second craft was halted.{{cite book |title=Fast Ferry International |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=talWAAAAMAAJ |year=2003 |publisher=High-Speed Surface Craft Limited }} As of 2021, the uncompleted Spasatel is stored adjacent to the Volga river in an old industrial complex within the central Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod.[https://www.google.com/maps/place/56%C2%B021'46.0%22N+43%C2%B052'44.0%22E/@56.3627501,43.8780791,173m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d56.362788!4d43.878875 Satellite view of uncompleted Lun-class ekranoplan in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322113530/https://www.google.com/maps/place/56%C2%B021%2746.0%22N+43%C2%B052%2744.0%22E/%4056.3627501%2C43.8780791%2C173m/data%3D%213m1%211e3%214m5%213m4%211s0x0%3A0x0%218m2%213d56.362788%214d43.878875 |date=22 March 2023 }} via Google Maps. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
The Lun design had several drawbacks. One was that although the ground effect enabled it to fly at low altitude, in order to utilize the effect it had to fly as low as {{cvt|5-10|ft|order=flip}} off the water due to its short wingspan, so it could not fly when seas were even mildly rough. Another was that the craft was only designed to use the ground effect principle, so it could not ascend to higher cruising altitudes. The requirement for calm seas to operate, and the inability to fly above them if they were not, greatly limited where it was able to deploy.{{cite news |url=https://breakingdefense.com/2022/05/darpas-revolutionary-seaplane-wants-to-change-how-the-pentagon-hauls-cargo/ |title=DARPA's revolutionary seaplane wants to change how the Pentagon hauls cargo] |first=Justin |last=Katz |work=Breaking Defense |location=US |date=27 May 2022 }}
2020 towing operation
File:An artist's concept of a Soviet wing-in-ground effect vehicle.jpg
On 31 July 2020, the completed MD-160 Lun-class ekranoplan was towed out of the naval base in Kaspiysk, with the intention of being eventually put on public display in Derbent, Dagestan, at the planned Patriot Park, a combination museum and theme park that will display Soviet and Russian military equipment.{{cite news |last1=Cenciotti |first1=David |date=10 August 2020 |title=Take A Look At These Incredible Shots Of The Russia's Sole Completed Lun-Class Ekranoplan |work=The Aviationist |url=https://theaviationist.com/2020/08/10/take-a-look-at-these-incredible-shots-of-the-russias-sole-completed-lun-class-ekranoplan/ |url-status=live |access-date=11 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006205142/https://theaviationist.com/2020/08/10/take-a-look-at-these-incredible-shots-of-the-russias-sole-completed-lun-class-ekranoplan/ |archive-date=6 October 2020 }} The towing operation involved the use of rubber pontoons, three tugboats and two escort vessels, and would have covered approximately {{convert|62|miles|km|0|order=flip|abbr=in}} had it been completed.{{cite news |last1=Ros |first1=Miquel |title=The 'Caspian Sea Monster' rises from the grave |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/caspian-sea-monster-ekranoplan/index.html |access-date=23 October 2020 |website=CNN |date=22 October 2020 |archive-date=23 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023012117/https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/caspian-sea-monster-ekranoplan/index.html |url-status=live }} However, during the tow the ekranoplan became stuck just offshore of a sandy beach, short of the intended destination.
The team managing the towing operation was unable to free the massive vehicle, so the ekranoplan was secured and remained beached in the surf zone while plans were drawn up on how to continue the move to Patriot Park. In the meantime, the unusual craft began attracting attention from the media, onlookers, and trespassing "urban explorers", even before the park was built.{{cite web |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/photographer-sneaks-inside-the-legendary-soviet-ekranoplan/30777774.html |title=Belly Of The Beast: Illicit Photos From Inside The Soviet Ekranoplan |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=11 August 2020 |last=Chapple |first=Amos |access-date=27 July 2021 |archive-date=18 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718055155/https://www.rferl.org/a/photographer-sneaks-inside-the-legendary-soviet-ekranoplan/30777774.html |url-status=live }} One report published in August 2020 stated that the hull, exposed to the waves in the surf zone, was taking on water.{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/hisutton/2020/08/11/russian-navys-mighty-ekranoplan-may-have-been-wrecked/ |title=Russian Navy's Mighty 'Ekranoplan' May Have Been Wrecked |last=Sutton |first=H. I. |work=Forbes |date=11 August 2020 |access-date=27 July 2021 |archive-date=10 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210233727/https://www.forbes.com/sites/hisutton/2020/08/11/russian-navys-mighty-ekranoplan-may-have-been-wrecked/ |url-status=live }} Moving the craft to dry land beyond the surf zone would eliminate the possibility that increased wave action during storms could damage the hull further.
In December 2020 a successful recovery operation resulted in the ekranoplan being hauled out of the water, nose-first, with the tail ending up about {{cvt|20|-|30|m|ft|round=5}} from the sea, as seen from satellite imagery.{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ekranoplan+Lun/@41.9406377,48.3783425,399m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4049cf8d1ad410bd:0x22d3bb2247ea9971!8m2!3d41.9406711!4d48.3789282?shorturl=1 |title=Satellite view of beached Lun ekranoplan |via=Google Maps |access-date=23 April 2022 |archive-date=23 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423171554/https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ekranoplan+Lun/@41.9406377,48.3783425,399m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4049cf8d1ad410bd:0x22d3bb2247ea9971!8m2!3d41.9406711!4d48.3789282?shorturl=1 |url-status=live }} The ekranoplan was towed ashore on 30 December 2021.{{Cite web |last=Ros |first=Miquel |title=The 'Caspian Sea Monster' rises from the grave |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/caspian-sea-monster-ekranoplan/index.html |access-date=15 January 2022 |website=CNN |date=22 October 2020 |language=en |archive-date=3 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103031847/https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/caspian-sea-monster-ekranoplan/index.html |url-status=live }}
Former operators
;{{URS}}
Specifications
{{Aircraft specs
|prime units?=met
|crew=15 (6 officers, 9 enlisted)
|capacity={{convert|137|t|lb|abbr=on}}
|length m=73.8
|length ft=
|length in=
|length note=
|span m=44
|span ft=
|span in=
|span note=
|height m=19.2
|height ft=
|height in=
|height note=
|wing area sqm=550
|wing area sqft=
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=286,000
|empty weight lb=
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=380,000
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity=
|more general=
|eng1 number=8
|eng1 name=Kuznetsov NK-87
|eng1 type=turbofans
|eng1 kn=127.4
|eng1 lbf=
|eng1 note=
|thrust original=
|eng1 kn-ab=
|eng1 lbf-ab=
|max speed kmh=550
|max speed mph=
|max speed kts=
|max speed note=
|max speed mach=
|cruise speed kmh=450
|cruise speed mph=
|cruise speed kts=
|cruise speed note=at {{convert|2.5|m|ft|abbr=on|0}}
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|stall speed mph=
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|minimum control speed kmh=
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|range km=2,000
|range miles=
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|ferry range km=
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|endurance=
|ceiling m= 5
|ceiling ft=
|ceiling note= in ground effect
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|glide ratio=
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=
|climb rate note=
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|thrust/weight=
|more performance=
|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
|bombs=
|rockets=
|missiles=six launchers for P-270 Moskit Sunburn anti-ship missiles
|hardpoints=
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|hardpoint rockets=
|hardpoint missiles=
|hardpoint bombs=
|hardpoint other=
|avionics=
}}
Related development
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Lun-class ekranoplan}}
- {{YouTube|nZjHdNHGAo0|Brief video of the 2020 towing operation}} {{nbsp}} (1m0s)
- {{YouTube|ife0fCU8PRw|Drone footage of Lun stuck in the beach surf zone}} {{nbsp}} (2m5s, silent)
- [https://yandex.com/maps/?l=sat&ll=48.378850%2C41.940670&pt=48.37885%2C41.94067&z=17 Satellite view after Lun was successfully pulled ashore] via Yandex Maps
- [https://www.wired.com/rawfile/2011/06/ekranoplan/?viewall=true Wired article with image gallery] (suitable for slow or metered connections)
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110814161738/http://igor113.livejournal.com/51213.html Extensive Lun imagery (faster connection recommended)] with Russian text, or [http://imgur.com/a/kRUA8#DeEFfvn mirrored imagery] with translated captions
- [http://www.hisutton.com/images/Lun-Ekranoplan-Cutaway.jpg Cutaway provisional drawing of the Lun-class ekranoplan] via hisutton.com [http://www.hisutton.com/Russian-Navy-Ekranoplan-WIG.html ekranoplan/WIG page]
{{coord|41|56|25|N|48|22|43|E|dim:200_region:RU|display=title}}
Category:Three-surface aircraft