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(CNN) – Stranded on the western shores of the Caspian Sea, it looks like a colossal water beast, a strange creation more at home in the depths than on the waves. It certainly doesn’t look like something that can fly.
But he did, albeit a long time ago.
After lying dormant for more than three decades, the Caspian Sea Monster has been on the move again. One of the most striking flying machines ever built, it is completing what could be its final journey.
In July this year, after 14 hours at sea, a flotilla of three tugboats and two escort vessels slowly maneuvered along the shores of the Caspian Sea to deliver their bulky special cargo to its destination, a stretch of coast near from the southernmost point of Russia.
It is here, next to the ancient city of Derbent, in the Russian republic of Dagestan, that the 380-ton “Lun-class Ekranoplan” has found its new and probably permanent home.
The last of its kind to navigate the Caspian waters, “Lun” was abandoned after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, condemned to rust at the Kaspiysk naval base, some 100 kilometers (62 miles) coast. above Derbent.
But before it could fade into oblivion, it has been rescued thanks to plans to turn it into a tourist attraction just at a time when this unusual travel concept might be ready to make a comeback.
Speed and stealth
Ground-effect vehicles, also known as “ekranoplans”, are a kind of hybrid between airplanes and ships. They move on the water without touching it.
The International Maritime Organization classifies them as ships, but in fact, they derive their unique high-speed capabilities from the fact that they skim the surface of the water at a height of between one and five meters (three to 16 feet).
They take advantage of an aerodynamic principle called “ground effect”.
This combination of speed and stealth (their proximity to the surface while flying makes them difficult to detect by radar) caught the attention of the Soviet military, which experimented with various variants of the concept during the Cold War.
Their deployment in the vast inland body of water between the Soviet Union and Iran led them to acquire the nickname “Monster of the Caspian Sea.”
The ekranoplan “Lun” was one of the last designs in the Soviet ground effect vehicle program. Longer than an Airbus A380 superjumbo and almost as tall, despite its size and weight, the Lun was capable of speeds of up to 550 kilometers per hour (340 mph) thanks to eight powerful turbofans located on its stubby wings.
This formidable machine was even capable of taking off and landing in stormy conditions, with waves of up to eight feet. Its intended mission was to carry out lightning strikes by sea with the six anti-ship missiles it carried in launch tubes attached to the top of its hull.
Star attraction
The ekranoplan that has been moved to Derbent is the only one of its kind that was completed and entered service in 1987.
A second Mon, decommissioned and assigned to rescue and supply missions, was in an advanced stage of completion when, in the early 1990s, the entire program was canceled and the existing Mon was withdrawn from service.
After more than 30 years of inaction, getting this sea beast moving again was no easy task, as it required the help of rubber pontoons and carefully coordinated choreography that involved multiple vessels.
“Mon” will be the star of the Patriot Park planned by Derbent, a military museum and theme park that will display different types of Soviet and Russian military equipment.
Construction of the park is expected to begin later in 2020. For now, Lun will be sitting alone on the beach.
It looks like it will become a new highlight for visitors to Derbent. The city claims to be the oldest inhabited settlement on Russian territory. Its citadel and historic center have been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Second wave
“Mon” will add to the attractions of a region that, until the coronavirus pandemic, had seen a number of initiatives to open it up to tourism, including the launch of cruise itineraries in the Caspian Sea.
When it opens, Derbent’s Patriot Park will not be the only Russian museum to display an ekranoplan. A much smaller Orlyonok-class ekranoplan can be found in the Museum of the Russian Navy in Moscow.
While ground-effect vehicles fell out of favor in recent decades, the concept has seen a resurgence of late.
Developers in Singapore, the United States, China, and Russia are working on different projects that aim to revive ekranoplans, albeit with far more peaceful purposes.
One of them is Singapore-based Wigetworks, whose AirFish 8 prototype is based on preliminary work done by German engineers Hanno Fischer and Alexander Lippisch during the Cold War.
Wigetworks acquired the patents and intellectual property rights and has set out to improve and update those earlier designs to create a modern ground effect vehicle.
Also in Asia, the Chinese Xiangzhou 1 ekranoplan first flew in 2017, although little is known about this project.
Delivery drones
In the United States, The Flying Ship Company, a startup backed by private investors, is working on an unmanned ground effect vehicle to move cargo at high speed. Think unmanned delivery drones but on the water.
The project is in its early stages, although founder and CEO Bill Peterson tells CNN that his team plans to bring this project to fruition within seven years.
And Russia, home of the ekranoplan, has not given up on the concept.
Several projects have been promoted in recent years, although none have made it past the design stage yet.
Beriev, a manufacturer of jet-powered amphibious aircraft, came up with the Be-2500 concept and, more recently, Russian media have reported that a new-generation military ekranoplan, tentatively called “Orlan,” was being considered.
Another privately funded project has emerged from Nizhny Novgorod, an industrial city on the banks of the Volga River closely related to the origins of ekranoplan technology. RDC Aqualines, which also has offices in Singapore, is developing its own line of commercial ekranoplans capable of carrying three, eight and 12 passengers, and could possibly expand to more.
His designs have caught the attention of a group of entrepreneurs who aim to establish a fast link across the Gulf of Finland, connecting Helsinki with the Estonian capital, Tallinn, in about 30 minutes.
After all, it might be that soon you don’t need to visit a museum to see an ekranoplan.
This story was first published on CNN.com. The ‘Monster of the Caspian Sea’ rises from the grave
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