The Soviet Superplane Program That Rattled Area 51 (1000x663 pixel images ahead)
54 replies, posted
[release][img]http://www.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/KIL_4517.jpg[/img]
The Lun ekranoplan weighs 380 tons, has a 148-foot wingspan and can launch six anti-ship missiles from flight. Or rather, it could, before it was retired to a forlorn pier in southern Russia.
The dilapidated plane is the offspring of an even larger prototype ship which freaked out the CIA so much back in the 1960s that they developed an unmanned drone to spy on it, an alleged program detailed in the new book [i][url=http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/05/17/book-excerpt-area-51-uncensored-history-americas-secret-military-base/]AREA 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base[/url][/i].
Deployed much later in 1987, this more contemporary behemoth, called the Lun, was an improvement over the previous model. It remained in service until the 1990s, when it was mothballed by the Russian military. The once-fearsome Lun will likely never fly again and is now little more than a chunk of aerodynamic scrap metal.
Alternately described as an amphibious aircraft or a flying boat, the plane is a feat of engineering that has been reduced to a footnote in aviation history. Read on for a look inside this aging relic and the ambitious program that spawned it.
[img]http://www.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/KIL_3989_90_91Enhancer.jpg[/img]
The surviving Lun ekranoplan was built as part of a closely guarded Soviet military program and is one of only two ever completed. As big as it is, its design was preceded by an even larger plane called the KM.
In the mid-1960s, when CIA analysts first saw satellite images of the KM, they knew only that something very large and very fast had appeared on the Caspian Sea. The bewildered analysts dubbed it the “Caspian Sea Monster.”
According to a former CIA officer, the agency was so concerned about the discovery it developed an unmanned reconnaissance drone specifically for spying on the KM. The officer, Gene Poteat, and others claim that the government used the Nevada airbase popularly known as Area 51 to design surveillance technology, including the KM drone known as Aquiline.
The official name of the Soviet ship, intelligence officers later learned, was “prototype ship” (abbreviated “KM” from the transliterated Russian). The modest title belied the KM’s might. When it first skimmed the waters of the Caspian in 1966, the KM was the largest aircraft on earth. At 295 feet long, capable of flying with a total weight of 600 tons and operating at a cruising speed of 310 miles per hour, it was hardly a mock-up. At a glance the KM looks like it was made for fighting Godzilla.
Despite its impressive stats, it was never put into production and in 1980, in an accident described as pilot error, the KM crashed and sank.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Nu94khHoo&feature=player_embedded[/media]
[img]http://www.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/kil_4154_5_6enhancer.jpg[/img]
The orphaned Lun, a monster of similar design to the KM, shows up nicely on Google Maps. A quick look will help you appreciate the Red October moment the CIA experienced when they came across the KM.
At 240 feet long, the Lun is about the size of a 747, not quite as gigantic as the KM. However, unlike its predecessor, the Lun carries six Moskit anti-ship missiles, which it is capable of launching while airborne.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgtaeRZjWNc&feature=player_embedded[/media]
[img]http://www.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/comp.jpg[/img]
For conventional navy ships, the Lun is a nasty adversary. It's able to creep up undetected and deliver a savage pounding.
Its low altitude keeps it below radar and its six supersonic P-270 Moskit anti-ship missiles can reach Mach 3 - more than triple the speed of the subsonic Harpoon missile that is a standard armament for the US Navy. Coming in at such high velocity, the Moskit is within range of a ship’s artillery for less than 30 seconds before impact. In comparison, the Harpoon gives defenders two minutes or more.
The Lun also had a maximum range of over 1200 miles, and could sustain its 15-person crew for five days without resupply. While never tested, the plane was theoretically capable of carrying up to 900 soldiers.
The Lun's current location is a dock in Kaspiysk, in the Russian-controlled republic of Dagestan. It's a potentially volatile resting place: An Islamic insurgency in Dagestan has been compared a small version of the war that ripped apart neighboring Chechnya.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVTbi8kWovI&feature=player_embedded[/media]
[img]http://www.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/KIL_4043_4_5Enhancer.jpg[/img]
The Lun and similar aircraft are called ekranoplans in Russian or ground effect vehicles (GEVs).
The ground effect is a physical phenomenon that occurs whenever an aircraft is close to touching down. In the seconds prior to landing, for example, the wings and the ground below form a funnel for air molecules. The funnel compresses the air flowing beneath the wings, increasing its pressure and generating more lift. The proximity to the ground also decreases the strength of wingtip vortices - ringlets of air that are a major cause of aerodynamic drag.
Thanks to this effect, GEVs generate more lift and less drag than a conventional aircraft of equivalent size and speed that fly at higher altitudes. Scientists describe GEVs as riding on a dynamic air cushion that acts like the inflated skirt of a hovercraft.
[img]http://blog-admin.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/KIL_4058_59_60Enhancer.jpg[/img]
The catch is that the advantages of the ground effect only show up when an ekranoplan is skimming the Earth's surface, so even the massive Lun cruises at just 15 feet of altitude. Since terra firma presents at least an occasional 15-foot obstacle, such as mountains or a telephone pole, most GEVs operate exclusively over water.
Though the Lun and other ekranoplans often relied on the ground effect cushion, they were still capable of flying well above their normal cruising altitude.
[img]http://www.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/kil_4164.jpg[/img]
The Soviet Union was by far the most advanced and intrepid designer of ground effect vehicles, funding a series of experimental programs and prototypes.
Even so, flying GEVs is no easy task and many models were dogged by accidents and pilot error. When operating at just fifteen feet above the surface, if a pilot turns too hard, then the wing is literally in the ground.
[img]http://blog-admin.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/kil_4168.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/kil_4222.jpg[/img]
As military aircraft, ekranoplans offer several standout features. Their low cruising altitudes are below the range of most radar and their extra lift means they can carry heavier cargo than conventional craft of the same size and can be up to 35% more fuel-efficient.
They can take off and land in the water, obviating the need for runways or docks. And while the lumbering cargo ships are lucky to hit 30 miles per hour, ekranoplans can break 300.
[img]http://blog-admin.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/kil_4171.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/kil_4178.jpg[/img]
The father of the ekranoplan program, Rostislav Alexeyev, was in the cockpit during the first crash of an Orlyonok model GEV.
It was 1975 and Alexeyev was flying in rough weather. The plane’s tail section fell off in flight, a failure attributed to a weak metal that was used in the fuselage. Miraculously, Alexeyev managed to steer the wounded craft back to its base, but the damage to his credibility was irreparable. Before the accident, Alexeyev had been the pioneering leader of the Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau and oversaw the flourishing Soviet ekranoplan program of the 1960s which had produced the impressive KM.
Despite Alexeyev’s fall from grace, Soviet authorities did not abandon GEVs entirely. The Lun was built in the late 1980s, and is undoubtedly among the greatest triumphs of the ekranoplan program.
[img]http://www.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/KIL_4081.jpg[/img]
The Alexeyev fiasco wasn't the end of the Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau's troubles.
In 1992, an Orlyonok ekranoplan ditched during a flight in preparation for a public demo. One of the crew members was killed, and the remaining nine were badly injured.
The exhibition had been intended for foreign investors. After the military draw-down that followed the end of the Soviet Union, the new government had spun off the Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau into a private company, which was then trying to drum up business. The crash was a huge drawback in efforts to develop GEVs for civilian transportation.
[img]http://www.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/KIL_4090.jpg[/img]
Outside Russia, the outlook for GEV technology is equally grim. Boeing briefly entertained the idea of building an enormous military cargo plane along the lines of the great Soviet ekranoplans. The aircraft, dubbed the Pelican, got as far as a cheesy 3D rendering, and, according to a spokesman, Boeing has no plans to pursue the project further.
[img]http://www.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/KIL_3986_7_8Enhancer.jpg[/img]
Though the Lun was never mass-produced, it remains a triumph of innovation and daring.
Uncharitable comparisons to the Spruce Goose may leap to mind, but unlike Howard Hughes’ monstrosity, the Lun and the other hulking ekranoplans could, and did, fly - hauling huge cargoes, firing supersonic missiles and skimming the waves at 300 miles per hour.
[img]http://www.wired.com/rawfile/wp-content/gallery/ekranoplan/KIL_4366.jpg[/img]
The Lun now receives basic maintenance, but is not in flying condition and likely never will be again.
Though it now seems like a fad that has run its course, GEV technology still has disciples. There are true believers who say the concept never got a fair shake, and its vast potential has been overlooked. Some have a messianic zeal that recalls people who stuck by their Betamax VCRs, certain of redemption. Then again, until a few years ago, advocates of electric cars sounded that way, too.[/release]
[url]http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2011/06/ekranoplan?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29&pid=885&viewall=true[/url]
I thought this was an interesting news article and wanted to share it with you guys.
I think this plane should be restored and put on display rather than on a dock. This thing is massive.
Fucking hell the Russians came up with some cool shit.
Cover ups
I'd love to "Fly" that beauty.
Those are in pretty good condition, and look really nice.
That is one extremely cool plane. It's a shame that these awesome Soviet engineering feats never really get off the ground. Though maybe a looming war is required to keep development interest up.
Very interesting read.
That thing looks like it has quite the potential to rattle apart as it takes off. . But hotdamn that is a sexy plane doom machine.
[QUOTE=Im Crimson;30374625]That is one extremely cool plane. It's a shame that these awesome Soviet engineering feats never really get off the ground. Though maybe a looming war is required to keep development interest up.[/QUOTE]
Sure. In the '80s people who were in charge of tank programs in the East and West expected to have tanks armed with 140mm or 152mm guns to enter service by the mid '90s. The end of the Cold War abruptly brought an end of them as well.
I know that thing in the second image must be some antenna or something, but I just have to say:
Is that a fucking trident?
[IMG]http://i53.tinypic.com/f1i0lw.jpg[/IMG]
That isn't a plane :/ It was a kind of hovercraft that flew just above the ground.
Does that count as a plane? I dont know :S
thanks for the warning I wasn't sure my 800x600 monitor could handle these HUGE images
I await the day when some eccentric billionaire buys this plane and restores it back to it's former glory.
:ussr:
This looks awesome. Too bad it is now only scrap metal.
I wouldn't call that a plane.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_effect_vehicle[/url]
[quote]The KM, as the Caspian Sea Monster was known in the Soviet military development program, was over 100 metres (328 ft) long, weighed 540 t (531 long tons) fully loaded, and could travel over 400 kilometres per hour (249 mph), a mere few metres above the surface of the water.[/quote]
It can't fly higher than few meters above the ground/sea.
The one in the pics is Lun-class Ekranoplan.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lun-class_ekranoplan[/url]
It's a shame ideas like these are often abandoned in favor of more comfortable ways of doing things. With more development I could see them being a much better alternative to small cargo ships.
But oh well, change comes slow and steady sometimes.
New project. Recruit Facepunchers around the world and steal that thing. I'm sure between the Automotive Addicts and the guys at DIY & Gardening we could get it flying again.
My God, I demand to see this thing fly now.
I saw an ekranoplan IRL, they're badass
What if some supervillain captures this, gets it operational, then launches an assault on a major city? :ohdear:
This seems about 50 years late to be in the news section
[QUOTE=zenith777;30375870]I wouldn't call that a plane.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_effect_vehicle[/url]
It can't fly higher than few meters above the ground/sea.
The one in the pics is Lun-class Ekranoplan.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lun-class_ekranoplan[/url][/QUOTE]
It uses wings to lift itself out of the water. It's still technically a plane. It's not an airplane per say, but it still uses wings and lift to get itself out of the water. I'd also assume there's a bit of hydroplaning in there right before it gets off the surface of the water, too.
I remember when James May looked at this when he did his big ideas program.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch2zs-7je_s[/media]
I think that's the video.
[QUOTE=Tac Error;30374010][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqy7T3W4qCs[/media][/QUOTE]
You bastard! You beat me to it!
Damn that thing is big, imagine if they tested it and got it to work..
[QUOTE=Angry Pineapple;30376392]Damn that thing is big, imagine if they tested it and got it to work..[/QUOTE]
It did work, very well, watch the youtube video.
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