Ground Effect Russian Aircraft, Lun-Class Ekranoplan

A ground effect vehicle (GEV) is one that attains level flight near the surface of the Earth, made possible by a cushion of high-pressure air created by the aerodynamic interaction between the wings and the surface known as ground effect. Also known as a wing-in-ground-effect  (WIG) vehicle, flarecraft, sea skimmer, ekranoplan, or wing-in-surface-effect ship (WISE), a GEV can be seen as a transition between a hovercraft  and an aircraft. A GEV differs from an aircraft in that it cannot operate without ground effect, so its operating height is limited relative to its wingspan.

The Lun-class  ekranoplan Ground effect vehicle was an extremely unusual aircraft  designed by Rostislav Evgenievich Alexeev and used by the Soviet & Russian navies from 1987 to sometime in the late '90s. Ground effect aircraft use the extra lift of their large wings when in proximity to the surface (about one to four meters). It is also interesting to note that this aircraft is one of the largest ever built, with a length of 73m. The sole vessel of her class, MD-160 entered service with the Black Sea Fleet in 1987. Eight Kuznetsov  NK-87 turbofans  were mounted on forward-located canards, each delivering 127.4 kN (28,600 lbf) of thrust. MD-160 had a flying boat-like hull with a large deflecting plate at the bottom of the hull to provide a "step" for takeoff. The aircraft was equipped for Anti-Surface Warfare  P-270 Moskit. It was therefore fitted with six missile launchers, mounted in pairs on the dorsal surface of the fuselage, and advanced tracking systems mounted in the nose and tail.