Ground-effect vehicle

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DARPA is interested in the WIG[1] craft (probably lobbied by Boeing, but that doesn't necessarily make it a bad idea for defense investment). This solicitation reads more like a plane that can swim vice a ship that can fly. I always wondered why Russia cancelled their WIG program [2], which was more like a ship that can fly a bit than the opposite. The story behind brilliant Russian engineer Rostislav Alexeyev [3], who championed the Russian WIG is fascinating.

1. https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/08/darpa-requests-... 2. http://www.hisutton.com/Russian-Navy-Ekranoplan-WIG.html 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rostislav_Alexeyev

Very interesting DARPA is looking into in a modern version! I always thought, if nothing else, ekranoplan look incredible and somewhat other-worldly. Thankfully the DARPA project renderings don’t seem less weird.

Recently a Lun-class ekranoplan was stranded during a towing operation which left it open to urban explorers who took some photos, including of the inside: https://www.rferl.org/a/photographer-sneaks-inside-the-legen...

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