At a speed of more than 500 kilometers per hour, it flies over the very surface of the water, like a hovercraft. It can take off like an airplane and sail like a ship. The ekranoplan is an ideal vehicle for landing and lightning attacks. Russia again plans to produce these expensive but effective weapons.

"Monster from the Caspian Sea"

The Soviet Navy began construction of the first real ekranoplan in 1963. At the Volga shipyard near Nizhny Novgorod, the construction of the KM ekranoplan (Layout Ship) began, which was supposed to become a full-scale model of the future combat ekranoplan. It was a huge machine with a body length of 90 m and a takeoff weight of 544 tons. At that time it was the largest aircraft in the world.

In the "Caspian Monster", as the car began to be called, the experience of testing experimental SM ekranoplans was used. Conceptually, it was a mid-wing T-tail, equipped with two Dobrynin VD-7 engines with a thrust of 107.8 kN, which were located on both sides of the vertical tail surface. The optimal flight altitude ranged from 4-14 meters above sea level, cruising speed was 430 km / h, and the maximum - 500 km / h. During summer testing, the KM demonstrated good stability and controllability.

Despite its impressive size, this ekranoplan could perform surprisingly sharp turns with a large slope, during which the tip of the wing on the inside of the turn touched the surface of the water.

As a result of many years of testing, the KM was rebuilt several times - the last time in 1979. This change was due, on the one hand, to the severe wear of aircraft engines and boosters, and on the other hand, to the need to test new engines for the future Lun combat ekranoplan. The last re-equipment was also because a year later the KM became a victim of an accident.

Airplane or ship? Russian "Caspian monster" returns to service

Rocket ekranoplan "Lun"

“The history of the Lun ekranoplan, the only one that had offensive weapons, began in 1970, when the Central Design Bureau for Hydrofoils. Alekseev (Central Design Bureau for SPK named after R. E. Alekseev) received an order to develop an ekranoplan armed with anti-ship cruise missiles capable of reaching speeds of 500 km / h, ”publicist Radek Panhartek talks about the birth of Luni.

The goal of the designers was to create a tool capable of attacking large objects on the surface of the sea or small sea groups and caravans of ships in fast flight at low altitude. The offensive weapon was an arsenal of six 3M80 Mosquito anti-ship cruise missiles. Given the size of the missile containers, the only place to place them could be the upper part of the WIG hull. This caused its design limitations. All eight Kuznetsov NK-87 bypass engines with a thrust of 127.4 kN were placed on a small pylon just behind the cockpit. After reaching the flight altitude and speed, only two engines remained in operation, while the others were turned off. Boosters were turned on only when accelerating or overcoming obstacles.

To protect the ekranoplan at the stern and under the first pair of missile containers, artillery installations UKU-9K-502-11 were installed - the same as on the Il-76 aircraft.

The tests were carried out on the Caspian Sea in 1990-1991 by the 11th air group, subordinate to the command of the Black Sea Fleet. Part of the test was also the use of Mosquito cruise missiles.

After 1992, ekranoplan flights were very limited due to financial problems. "Lun" stood at the base in Kaspiysk and gradually fell into disrepair. In 1998, by decision of the Chief of Staff of the Navy, the 11th separate air group was reorganized into the Air Base for the Preservation of the Ekranoplan, which mothballed the Lun ekranoplane and was engaged in its storage.

This could be the end of the story of ekranoplanes, a promising technology that simply proved too technologically complex and too costly to sustain the faltering post-Soviet economy.

The change has come due to the political and geopolitical dynamics of Vladimir Putin's administration. The appetites directed to the Black Sea corridor in the Mediterranean, in a certain sense, continued the plans that the Soviet Navy associated with ekranoplanes. After all, Soviet ekranoplans were created just for use in inland seas. Transport ekranoplans "Eaglet" were called upon by an unexpected landing of the Marine Corps to blockade the entrances or exits from the inland seas - primarily from the Black Sea through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles.

In this case, the Lun missile ekranoplan was supposed to cover their operations from attacks from enemy ships or destroy patrols of large groups of ships, thereby opening the way for larger formations of the Navy.

And this role could be played by the vehicles that the Russian Navy wants to put into service after 2020. Other uses of these funds are also being considered. Once in Siberia, Burevestnik-24, a civilian transport and rescue ekranolet, was tested. And it is highly likely that Russian design bureaus are also developing plans for ocean-going military ekranoplanes. They would be a response to the Pelican, Boeing's ekranoplane concept that hasn't been reported since 2002, but that doesn't mean development isn't ongoing. By the way, ekranoplanes are gaining popularity outside of their Russian ancestral home. For example, Iran formed several parts of these weapons-equipped vehicles, demonstrating them at a military parade in 2010.

The ekranoplans are called Bavar 2, and they are small. But for the sake of completeness, we note that since then there has been no information about Iranian ekranoplanes. By itself, this means nothing, although perhaps Iran has the same problems that Russia had. After great expectations - a lot of difficulties and eventually disappointment.

But no one can say that the ekranoplan will end its days among other oddities, of which there have been many in military history. At least until the project is completed, over which engineers at shipyards in Nizhny Novgorod are racking their brains today.

Rocket ekranoplan "Lun"

In the early 60s of the last century, the USSR adopted a state program for the development of combat ekranoplanes. It was understood that these machines would be able to serve not only in the ranks of the Navy, but also in other troops. The peculiarity of ekranoplanes was that they could move both on the water surface (including swamps and snow) and on a solid surface. In addition, this military equipment was more lifting, economical and, importantly, did not require special coastal infrastructure. The main thing is that there is a suitable size of water area or land area.

Ekranoplan Alekseev. (warfiles.com)

In 1966, the first model was created at the Central Design Bureau, which was called "KM" - "model ship". The car was equipped with as many as a dozen turboprop power units. The creators placed a couple on the tail, and the rest on the wings. The colossus weighed over 540 tons with a length of 92 meters. The height of the KM was 22 meters, and the wingspan was 37 meters. Such a truly "monster" has never been seen before. Only in the 80s did the An-225 Mriya transport jet aircraft appear, which surpassed the KM in size.

"Monster" was the largest ekranoplan in history

I must say that the "Caspian Monster" according to the documents did not go like an airplane, but like a ship. Therefore, he belonged to the Navy. The fact is that the screen effect acted at a height of several meters, and the car itself looked like an amphibious submarine. But, interestingly, test pilots, and not Navy employees, drove the car.

Tests "KM"

Information about the creation of the "monster", of course, was kept secret. Therefore, on June 22, 1966, "KM" was lowered from the Volga pier in the dead of night, having previously covered it with a camouflage net. Then the towing of the car along the Volga to Kaspiysk began. There, a test station was already ready for the ekranoplan. Since the “tops” were afraid of information leakage, the car had to be moved only at night. And the whole journey took about a month.

Ekranoplan near the coast. (yandex.net)

At the place of deployment "KM" arrived without a wing. It was decided to attach it already on the spot. Therefore, Rostislav Evgenievich, together with ordinary workers, pulled the ropes, docking the wing. By the way, Alekseev was called the Doctor, emphasizing his intelligence and professionalism. When the wing was attached to the ekranoplan, Rostislav Evgenievich wrote in the flight sheet: "Flight in the dock." Engines started. And with a thrust of 40% of the nominal, the “monster” moved forward along with the dock, tearing off the anchors. Then Alekseev ordered to turn off the power units. So far everything went well.

During the first flight, "KM" fixed an American satellite

Soon the first flight took place. It passed over the Caspian Sea at a height of 4 meters and lasted about 50 minutes. The tests were considered successful. By the way, it was at that moment that a spy satellite noticed him. The Americans then were seriously scared because they could not accurately identify the Soviet car.

Rostislav Alekseev. (kpcdn.net)

In general, the test flight took place ahead of schedule. The fact is that Alekseev was strongly hurried by the bosses, who wanted to report to the "top" as soon as possible. Therefore, "KM" did not have time to equip radio equipment and set up the work of altimeters. Also during the flight, it turned out that the body of the machine needed to be urgently strengthened. This problem was solved with additional metal sheets. By the way, during the first test, Alekseev himself controlled the car with the help of the pilot Loginov. But then they were replaced by the leading test pilots of the USSR - Garbuzov and Troshin.

The notification received by the author about the positive result of the examination of the application for the Ekranoplan invention will allow us to promote this project, which can say a new word both in transportation and in the creation of a real Russian ocean fleet.

Heavy ekranoplans are in fact the only type of weapons and military equipment where our country has been ahead for more than 50 years in terms of design and engineering developments (“Dry cargo carrier Farewell to Montana”). I will try once again to substantiate the absolute possibility and urgent need for the development of this "our" mode of transport, which is easily transformed into a new type of strike weapons.

We will consider any ekranoplan with a take-off weight of 500 to 5 thousand tons as heavy, and over and up to 18-20 thousand tons as super-heavy. By the way, so far no one in the world has exceeded the displacement characteristics of the KM-1 developed by Rostislav Alekseev. It is also necessary to decide what an ekranoplan is in terms of flight altitude. It should not exceed the chord length of the main or main wing, and the roll and pitch are within strictly defined and relatively small values ​​established by full-scale tests.

The aircraft scheme of the ekranoplanes under construction and being designed has no future - it does not contribute to the self-destruction of involuntary pitch-up. The design of the center section in the form of a monowing is due to the need to have on the upper plane of the runway sufficient for takeoff and landing of two aircraft in a displacement mode of motion. Inside, in the diametrical plane, the ship has paired, at least two-level (double-deck) rooms, the feature of which is composite floors (deck-platforms) with measurements that are multiples of the number of sea containers and the dimensions of combat aircraft. The main power plant is two nuclear reactors with a total capacity sufficient to move on the screen in cruising flight mode at a speed of 300 knots (approximately 300-450 MW each with a take-off weight of 16,000 tons).

During takeoff and landing, the additional power of the turbopropfan engines (TVP) is turned on - about half of the power required for cruising. Adjacent to the center section are trapezoidal wings with swivel floats at the ends, where propulsion systems are located - TVVD on pylons.

To improve the aerodynamic properties in flight and reduce the starting power of the propulsion system, the displacement body - a hydro-ski with water-jet installations - is able to retract into the center section after the start. In contrast to traditional schemes for creating an air cushion with separate drives for it and for movement, a scheme was used with a drive from a TVD to fan-compressors mounted in the side wings flush with the wing system, which are closed by louvered grilles in cruising mode.

The underwing space during launch or landing on an air cushion is protected by a system of rotary slats, flaps and restrictive washers. To stabilize the flight in pitch, three systems were used: a certain location of the center of gravity and aerodynamic focus of the apparatus, fan-compressor installations at the ends of the monowing, used at launch to create an air cushion, as well as a system of stern and bow horizontal stabilizers installed on the center section and side wings. All parameters of the device are calculated. In the transitional mode from gliding to separation from the water surface, columns with supercavitating tandem propellers are advanced from the aft vertical stabilizers.

Approximate dimensions of the ekranoplan: length - 250 meters, width - 300 meters, height - 35 meters, draft - 3.5-4.5 meters. The total capacity of the power plant at launch is within 840-900 MW, in flight - 550-650 MW. At the same time, the thrust-to-weight ratio will not exceed 0.115–0.120, which is more than two times less than this value for the KM ekranoplan. To facilitate the launch, the load per unit area of ​​thinner wings compared to the KM and Orlyonok has been reduced by about half - about 200-250 kilograms per square meter against 450, which corresponds to modern fighters. The aerodynamic quality of the device at a flight altitude of 40–50 meters should be at least 22–26, the Froude number should be within 10–11. PU power distribution - 4 NKA 20 water cannons or NK-20 engines of 20 MW each); retractable tandem columns with supercavitating propellers, hydraulic or electric drive (with cryogenically cooled superconducting windings of built-in electric motors) from nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 150–220 MW; 4 NKA 40 30–40 MW each - drive to fan-compressors installed at the ends of the center section-monowing in the usual non-nuclear version, 8 tandems of cowled high-pressure engines - channelless high-pressure engines, that is, 16 engines of 40 MW each (with afterburner 55 MW) with a drive (mechanical, hydraulic or otherwise) for 8 fan-compressors in the side wings behind the pylons. In the nuclear version, the closest 10–12 engines to the center section are tandem NKA-1055 engines (development of NK-93 and GE-36) of 50–55 MW each. The rest of the conventional TVD are used during takeoff and landing. I omit subtleties and details.

For heavy and super-heavy ekranoplanes, it is preferable to have the most economical transport nuclear power plants in combination with a TVD. Although there is an opinion that at speeds up to 600 kilometers per hour, the powerful connecting rodless internal combustion engines of Balandin can also come up. There is quite significant experience in creating atomoletes in our country: in the 60s, the atomic Tu-119 was tested with two NK-14A engines with a good weight-to-power ratio of about 3–3.5. The anti-submarine An-22 with an almost exhausted nuclear power plant was able to fly without refueling for at least 48 hours.

On the clock in Hudson Bay

Combat ekranoplans can be aircraft-carrying, anti-submarine, anti-missile and amphibious. The latter includes any civilian option, since a relatively small draft and a bow tip hanging over the water make it possible to approach the coast and land military equipment and soldiers. As for the over-the-horizon landing that is now fashionable in the West, there are no problems at all. High-speed floating craft with a displacement of up to 500 tons with weapons and manpower are launched from the bow of the apparatus. The second combat method of using civil ekranoplanes in the event of a military threat is to transport 300 40-foot or 600 20-foot containers of the Club system to the enemy's coast. You can use them from four lifts on the upper plane of the monowing, and several dozen in volleys at once.

Inside the aircraft-carrying ekranoplan there will be 22-24 heavy fighters, AWACS aircraft. Heavy high-altitude drones will stand on the upper plane of the monowing outside the runway, it is advisable to use them as reconnaissance ones. The use of aviation is possible in two modes - in displacement (for reconnaissance and patrol aircraft) and in combat, at a speed of about 150 knots, while catapults are not required. Maintenance of aircraft is carried out according to the conveyor principle: aircraft land and roll out onto the bow lifts, descend to the lower deck and there they move to the aft lifts, while preparing for the next sorties.

In the anti-submarine variant, it is possible to place two submachine guns like the Project 705 nuclear submarine with a displacement of up to two thousand tons or several underwater drones inside the center section of the monowing, and helicopters and PLO aircraft on the upper plane of the center section of the monowing. Since the combat duty routes of American SSBNs are known, it is possible, if necessary, to completely disorganize the operation of the main, most dangerous component of the US strategic nuclear forces today.

There is no point in describing the anti-missile ekranoplan in detail. Three tasks can be noted for this type. The first and main one is the neutralization of ground-based strategic nuclear forces. The starting position is near Vancouver in the Pacific Ocean, near Halifax in the Atlantic, in Hudson Bay, from where it is easiest to intercept the starting Minutemen from North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. The second task is to cover the Arctic and adjacent areas together with the Russian Aerospace Forces. And the third is the neutralization of anti-missiles capable of shooting down nuclear warheads on a downward trajectory.

Eurasian Arctic Bridge

The Russian Navy has a choice: copy old Western technologies or get ahead of them forever. Storm aircraft carriers and nuclear destroyers with the displacement of heavy cruisers will not take us to the front lines. Following this path, we will not create a real ocean fleet, except that we will get units of motley ships scattered across the water area and dangling in all directions at the speed of refueling tankers accompanying them. Right now, until the construction of heavy ships has begun, it is possible and necessary to fulfill the dream of Admiral Sergei Georgievich Gorshkov of several hundred combat ekranoplanes for the Russian Navy. Moreover, there are both technical possibilities and economic prerequisites for the creation, together with Chinese, and perhaps with Indian, Iranian partners, of a new type of sub-Eurasian water transport.

We propose to arrange an open or closed competition for the development of a new shipbuilding program that would meet the realities of the 21st century. We lost time, but we still have about 10 years to decide what to build - aircraft carriers, and most likely coastal defense, we will not be able to master such AUGs as those of the United States, equipped with ships with nuclear power plants. It is possible to start designing now and in two or three years to start building an intermediate version of a heavy ekranoplan with a displacement of up to five thousand tons, using as a nuclear power plant the design of a homogeneous reactor with a liquid metal coolant with a capacity of up to 100 MW and modified NK-93 engines developed by Gidropress. And after testing the device, determine the directions for the development of the shipbuilding program.

We still have the opportunity to become a scientific and technical Eurasian transport bridge between the rapidly developing Southeast Asia and the rest of the world through a new transport system and at the same time create a new type of weaponry that will put direct pressure on the main potential enemy.

The development and operation of such a system at the total cost of the Eurasian countries will not become an unbearable burden for the budget of the Russian Federation. The civilian version of the ekranoplanes can initially be used on the Northern Sea Route, in which China and Europe are primarily interested in increasing the traffic through which. Calculations show that for the transportation of 50 million tons, and the need for such volumes may arise as early as 2020, 90-100 ships with a deadweight of 65 thousand tons are needed on the Murmansk-Shanghai line, while crossing the Northern Sea Route at an average speed of 13.4 knots takes about 23 days. To deliver a similar cargo by heavy ekranoplanes with a deadweight of 10,000 tons at a speed of 324 knots (600 kilometers per hour), no more than 18-20 ships will be required, and the transition time will not exceed 24 hours. The potential demand for transportation along this route exceeds 650 million tons - as much cargo is currently passing through the Suez Canal.

The main design solution of the project is the use of specialized similar cargo spaces inside the center section, equipped with several loading and unloading systems. In the military version, they can accommodate aircraft and any other equipment, in the civilian version - standard containers and other cargo. With the threat of a nuclear confrontation, both combat and transport ekranoplanes armed with cruise missiles can be transferred to the shores of the main potential enemy in less than a day. Calculations show that in peacetime near the coast of the United States it is necessary to keep from four to six groups of super-heavy ekranoplans. Each includes three to four vessels with functionality from anti-submarine to anti-missile and a total number of combat aircraft up to 80.

Native ocean spaces

The strategy of using the USSR Navy in peacetime assumed the duty of ocean multi-purpose formations, primarily near the coast of the main potential enemy. This was the time of the highest military power of the country: there were magnificent ships of the middle class, excellent naval aviation, a huge number of diesel submarines, but all this threatened a potential enemy in the European or Far Eastern theater of operations. In fact, we were able to create only one permanent naval formation outside our coastal zone - the Mediterranean Squadron. Even if we start building the latest ocean-class ships, we will never reach the combined power of the NATO and Japanese fleets, which are armed with the latest modifications of the Aegis system.

Therefore, it is proposed to step over the standard approaches to the construction of the fleet and create a universal naval transport and combat system that can bring us to the forefront. At the same time, the civil branch is a purely Eurasian one, serving the transport needs of the SCO and, as the ocean transportation of the BRICS develops. There is no need for many communications, for example, in the Panama Canal: super-heavy ekranoplans can cross the isthmus over the territory of Nicaragua at altitudes up to 200 meters above sea level.

The Russian Federation has the greatest scientific and technical reserve both in ekranoplanes and in aviation with nuclear power plants. We are the only ones in the world with experience in the construction of transport homogeneous reactors: there is the Hydropress project with a capacity of under 100 MW, it only needs to be increased, there are developments in the creation of ultra-light and super-strong structural materials.

It is necessary to set tasks correctly and immediately build ekranoplans much more powerful than Alekseev's, which our probable "partners" called "Caspian monsters". The task is difficult, but quite capable. You need to understand how much of a loaf of global transport infrastructure you can grab and even hobble your "partner".

"KM" (TO ship- m aket), also known abroad as the "Caspian Monster" - an experimental ekranoplan, developed in the design bureau of R. E. Alekseev. Served as the basis for the development and creation of the ekranoplan-missile carrier "Lun" (1987).

History of creation

Tests

In the first test flight, the KM ekranoplan was piloted by V. F. Loginov and R. E. Alekseev. Further tests were carried out by leading test pilots D. T. Garbuzov and V. F. Troshin. All these works were carried out in the system of the Ministry of the shipbuilding industry.

KM tests took place in the Caspian Sea for 15 years until 1980. In 1980, due to a pilot error, the KM crashed, there were no casualties, the ekranoplan remained afloat for another week after the accident, but no attempts were made to save it, after which it sank. Operations to raise, restore or build a new copy of the KM were not carried out [ ] .

Interesting Facts

It seems that it is high time to tell the aircraft about this - either an air or a water vessel ...
In the early 60s, the Union adopted a state program for ekranoplans, which provides for the creation of a number of new manned self-propelled models of them, as well as the development of combat projects for the Navy and other branches of the armed forces with the creation of a full-size experimental ekranoplan.

In the 64-65th, the design and creation of a unique KM ekranoplan was carried out at the Central Design Bureau for the SPK. The name KM denotes a mock-up ship, but the car was given a different name - "Caspian Monster". The chief designer of this ekranoplan was R.E. Alekseev, lead designer - V.P. Efimov.

According to the definition formulated in the "Interim Guidelines for the Safety of Ekranoplans" adopted by the IMO (International Maritime Organization): an ekranoplan is a multi-mode vessel that, in its main operational mode, flies using the "screen effect" over the water or other surface, without constant contact with it, and is supported in the air, mainly by the aerodynamic lift generated on the air wing(s), body, or parts thereof, which are intended to use the action of the "screen effect".

KM was a promising vehicle for the military and rescuers, but its design caused many difficulties. According to the documents, the ekranoplan passed like a ship (during the first test, a bottle of champagne was broken on it and the Naval flag of the USSR was raised on it, and belonged to the Navy, since the screen effect acts at a height of several meters. Structurally, it resembled an amphibian (type boat) The experimental apparatus was controlled by test pilots.

Towed ekranoplan on the roadstead of Gorky

On June 22, 1966, before dawn, the largest aircraft in the world was launched from the Volga pier. And then for almost a month, half-submerged, with an undocked wing, covered with a camouflage net, it was towed along the Volga from Gorky to the training ground in Kaspiysk. According to the requirements of secrecy, they walked mainly at night, defended during the day.
The power plant of the KM ekranoplan consisted of 10 VD-7 turbojet engines with a thrust of more than 11,000 kg each. On the front pylon there were 8 engines, their power was used mainly at the start. On the keel there were two more of the same engines, sufficient to maintain the cruising regime.

In the first flight, the ekranoplan was personally piloted by Alekseev. The flight took about 50 minutes at a height of about 4 m. The tests were successful.
In August 1967, the KM ekranoplan flew with a takeoff weight of 544 tons, while developing a speed of 455 km / h. This was an unofficial world record for aircraft of the time. It was beaten only with the creation of the An-225 Mriya, only a quarter of a century later!

From the words of eyewitnesses: “The spectacle of flights was captivating, the heart sank with delight and pride. The roar of engines at the start, fountains of spray. But the very flight over the surface of the water is calm and majestic.
KM was an experimental ekranoplan. His tests showed that ekranoplans of this dimension can fly and fly excellently. Based on the experience gained during the creation and testing of the KM, the ekranoplan-missile carrier Lun was built.

Ekranoplan "Lun" in Kaspiysk, 2010

... KM tests took place in the Caspian for 15 years, but they ended very sadly. In December 1980, due to the fault of the crew, the KM crashed and sank (the crew managed to escape). In a 20-meter shallow water, the Monster's huge tail was visible over the Caspian for a couple of weeks.

KM died 10 months after the death of his chief designer ...
My personal opinion: the project is spectacular and beautiful, but ... stillborn. Where and how was it supposed to be used?
And build?
To serve (fully) two elements is impossible!!!