Ekranoplan (KM, 'Caspian Sea Monster')
Ekranoplano (KM, «monstruo del Caspio»)
- Date
- 1966 · confidence high
- Place
- Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
- Credited to
- Rostislav Alekseyev (Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau)
- Field
- Movement
What it is
A vehicle that flies a few metres above water using the ground effect, combining the advantages of aircraft and ship. The 544 t KM, 92 m long with a 37 m wingspan, was tested on the Caspian Sea from 1966 and was the heaviest vehicle of its time.
It was tested on the Caspian for over a decade, but no version reached civil production.
What it led to
- military ekranoplans such as the Lun (1987)
- later research on wing-in-ground aircraft for civil transport