Belly Of The Beast: Illicit Photos From Inside The Soviet Ekranoplan
Taken by Russian urban explorer Lana Sator, 31, who took advantage of the current beaching of the Lun-class Ekranoplan to get inside, after attempts at towing it to land to become part of a museum exhibit failed, leaving it stranded on the coast of the Caspian Sea.
Belly Of The Beast: Illicit Photos From Inside The Soviet Ekranoplan
Taken by Russian urban explorer Lana Sator, 31, who took advantage of the current beaching of the Lun-class Ekranoplan to get inside, after attempts at towing it to land to become part of a museum exhibit failed, leaving it stranded on the coast of the Caspian Sea.
Ah! The Caspian Sea Monster, an Ekranoplan, or ground effect vehicle. Used to be the largest and heavies aircraft ever built until the AN-225 was created. Basically, it uses the ground effect to “fly” at only a few meters above the water, at high speeds, essentially making it a jet-powered, and very fast hydrofoil, that just leaves the water entirely to reduce resistance.
Idea was to skim along at high speed, too low and fast to be detected, and fire nuclear missiles off its back.
The KM (Korabl Maket) (Russian: Корабль-макет, literally “Ship-prototype”), known colloquially as the Caspian Sea Monster, was an experimental ground effect vehicle (ekranoplan) developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s by the Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau. The KM began operation in 1966, becoming the largest and heaviest aircraft in the world, and was continuously tested by the Soviet Navy until 1980, when it was damaged in a testing accident and sank in the Caspian Sea.
The KM (Korabl Maket) (Russian: Корабль-макет, literally “Ship-prototype”), known colloquially as the Caspian Sea Monster, was an experimental ground effect vehicle (ekranoplan) developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s by the Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau. The KM began operation in 1966, becoming the largest and heaviest aircraft in the world, and was continuously tested by the Soviet Navy until 1980, when it was damaged in a testing accident and sank in the Caspian Sea.
