Lun-class ekranoplan

{{short description|Soviet ground effect vehicle}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Use British English |date=January 2022}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image | image = Lun-class ekranoplan (2026-03-18) - 0 4.jpg | image_caption = ''Lun''-class ekranoplan MD-160 at Patriot Park, Derbent }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/class overview | name = ''Lun'' | builders = | operators = *{{navy|Soviet Union}} * {{navy|Russia}} | class_before = | class_after = | subclasses = | cost = | built_range = | in_service_range = 1987–late 1990s | in_commission_range = | total_ships_building = | total_ships_planned = 2 | total_ships_completed = 1 | total_ships_canceled = 1 | total_ships_active = | total_ships_laid_up = | total_ships_lost = | total_ships_retired = 1 | total_ships_preserved = 1 }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics | hide_header = | header_caption = | type = Attack/transport ground effect vehicle | tonnage = | displacement = Displacement n/a, weight 286 tonnes unloaded | length = {{cvt|73.8|m|ftin}} | beam = (Wingspan) {{cvt|44|m|ftin}} | height = {{cvt|19.2|m|ftin}} | draught = ({{cvt|2.5|m|ftin}} | draft = | depth = | power = | propulsion = 8 × Kuznetsov NK-87 turbofan engines, {{convert|127.4|kN|lbf|abbr=on|lk=in}} thrust | sail_plan = | speed = {{convert|297|kn|lk=in}} | range = {{cvt|1000|nmi|lk=in}} | endurance = | boats = | capacity = 100 tonnes (220,000 pounds) | troops = | complement = six officers and nine enlisted men | sensors = Puluchas search radar | EW = | armament = *6 × fixed-elevation P-270 Moskit anti-ship missile launchers * 2 × twin 23 mm PI-23 turrets | armour = | armor = | notes = }} }}The '''''Lun''-class ekranoplan''' (Soviet classification: '''Project 903''')<ref>{{Cite web |title=Small Missile Ship-Ekranoplan - Project 903 |url=http://russianships.info/eng/warships/project_903.htm |access-date=24 November 2023 |website=russianships.info |archive-date=2 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002231956/http://russianships.info/eng/warships/project_903.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> is the only ground effect vehicle (GEV) to ever be operationally deployed as a warship, deploying in the Caspian Flotilla. It was designed by Rostislav Alexeyev in 1975 and used by the Soviet and later Russian navies from 1987 until sometime in the late 1990s.<ref name="ValueWalk">{{cite web |url=http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/09/russia-revives-ekranoplan-project/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20151115225548/http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/09/russia-revives-ekranoplan-project/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 November 2015 |title=Russia Revives Its Soviet-Era Ekranoplan Project |last1=Shukla |first1=Vikas |date=9 September 2015 |website=ValueWalk |access-date=10 September 2015 }}</ref><ref name="Business Insider">{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/the-soviet-unions-lun-class-ekanoplane-is-the-biggest-ground-effect-vehicle-ever-2014-7 |title=Here's The Astonishing Hovercraft That The Soviets Could Have Used To Invade Western Europe In The 80s |last1=Johnson |first1=Robert |last2=Rosen |first2=Armin |website=Business Insider |access-date=10 September 2015 |archive-date=21 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921082937/http://www.businessinsider.com/the-soviet-unions-lun-class-ekanoplane-is-the-biggest-ground-effect-vehicle-ever-2014-7 |url-status=live }}</ref>

It flew using lift generated by the ground effect acting on its large wings when within about {{convert|4|m|ft|spell=in}} above the surface of the water. Although they might look similar to traditional aircraft, ekranoplans like the ''Lun'' are not classified as aircraft, seaplanes, hovercraft, or hydrofoils. Rather, craft like the ''Lun''-class ekranoplan are classified as maritime ships by the International Maritime Organization due to their use of the ground effect, in which the craft glides just above the surface of the water.<ref name="YunBliault2009">{{cite book |author1=Liang Yun |author2=Alan Bliault |author3=Johnny Doo |title=WIG Craft and Ekranoplan: Ground Effect Craft Technology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oAXEphDmmEMC&pg=PA436 |date=3 December 2009 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-4419-0042-5 |pages=436– }}</ref>

The ground effect occurs when flying at an altitude of only a few metres above the ocean or ground; drag is greatly reduced by the proximity of the ground preventing the formation of wingtip vortices, thus increasing the efficiency of the wing. This effect does not occur at high altitude.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cui |first1=E. |last2=Zhang |first2=X. |date=2010 |title=Chapter 18 Ground Effect Aerodynamics |s2cid=29236092 |language=en }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=4 April 2017 |title=Here's a Closer Look at the Soviet Navy's 1987 Lun-Class Ekranoplan |url=https://interestingengineering.com/a-closer-look-at-the-soviet-navys-1987-lun-class-ekranoplan |access-date=31 July 2021 |website=interestingengineering.com |language=en-US |archive-date=2 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002232101/https://pandg.tapad.com/tag?us_privacy=1YNY&referrer_url=&page_url=https%3A%2F%2Finterestingengineering.com%2Finnovation%2Fa-closer-look-at-the-soviet-navys-1987-lun-class-ekranoplan&owner=P%26G&bp_id=cafemedia&ch=%7B%22architecture%22%3A%22x86%22%2C%22bitness%22%3A%2264%22%2C%22brands%22%3A%5B%7B%22brand%22%3A%22%20Not%3BA%20Brand%22%2C%22version%22%3A%2299%22%7D%2C%7B%22brand%22%3A%22Google%20Chrome%22%2C%22version%22%3A%2297%22%7D%2C%7B%22brand%22%3A%22Chromium%22%2C%22version%22%3A%2297%22%7D%5D%2C%22mobile%22%3Afalse%2C%22model%22%3A%22%22%2C%22platformVersion%22%3A%225.15.0%22%7D&initiator=js |url-status=live }}</ref>

The name ''Lun'' comes from the Russian word for the harrier.<ref name="Flying Magazine">{{cite journal |title=Neither Fish Nor Fowl |journal=Flying |url={{google books |id=DNnRQhLxu7YC |page=72 |plain-url=yes}} |date=July 1994 |page=72 |issn=0015-4806 }}</ref>

==Design and development== The ''Lun''-class ekranoplan was developed on the basis of the experimental KM ekranoplan, which was nicknamed the "Caspian Sea Monster".

The ''Lun'' was powered by eight Kuznetsov NK-87 turbofans mounted on forward canards, each producing {{convert|127.4|kN|lbf|abbr=on}} of thrust. It had a flying boat hull with a large deflecting plate at the bottom to provide a "step" for takeoff.<ref name="Flying Magazine" /> It had a maximum cruising speed of {{convert|340|mph|km/h|order=flip}}.<ref name="Business Insider" />

Equipped for anti-surface warfare, it carried the P-270 ''Moskit'' (Mosquito) guided missile. Six missile launchers were mounted in pairs on the dorsal surface of its fuselage with advanced tracking systems mounted in its nose and tail.<ref name="Hollebone2012">{{cite book |author=Ashley Hollebone |title=The Hovercraft Story |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4X47AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT33 |date=31 March 2012 |publisher=History Press Limited |isbn=978-0-7524-8512-6 |pages=33– }}</ref>

The only model of this class ever built to completion, the '''MD-160''', entered service with the Soviet Navy Caspian Flotilla in 1987. It was retired in the late 1990s and sat unused at a Caspian Sea naval base in Kaspiysk until 2020.<ref name="Business Insider" /><ref name="Ferguson2013">{{cite book |author=Norman Ferguson |title=The Little Book of Aviation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9J07AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT102 |date=1 April 2013 |publisher=History Press Limited |isbn=978-0-7524-9285-8 |pages=102– }}</ref><ref name="Cenciotti2020">{{cite news |last1=Cenciotti |first1=David |date=10 August 2020 |title=Take A Look At These Incredible Shots Of The Russia's Sole Completed ''Lun''-Class Ekranoplan |url=https://theaviationist.com/2020/08/10/take-a-look-at-these-incredible-shots-of-the-russias-sole-completed-lun-class-ekranoplan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006205142/https://theaviationist.com/2020/08/10/take-a-look-at-these-incredible-shots-of-the-russias-sole-completed-lun-class-ekranoplan/ |archive-date=6 October 2020 |access-date=11 August 2020 |work=The Aviationist}}</ref>

The second ''Lun''-class ekranoplan was partially built in the late 1980s. While its construction was underway, it was redesigned as a mobile field hospital for rapid deployment to any ocean or coastal location. It was named the ''Spasatel'' ("Rescuer"). Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and cancellation of military funding, construction of the second craft was halted.<ref name="YunBliault2009" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Fast Ferry International |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=talWAAAAMAAJ |year=2003 |publisher=High-Speed Surface Craft Limited }}</ref> As of 2021, the uncompleted ''Spasatel'' is stored adjacent to the Volga river in an old industrial complex within the central Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod.<ref>[https://www.google.com/maps/place/56%C2%B021'46.0%22N+43%C2%B052'44.0%22E/@56.3627501,43.8780791,173m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d56.362788!4d43.878875 Satellite view of uncompleted ''Lun''-class ekranoplan in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322113530/https://www.google.com/maps/place/56%C2%B021%2746.0%22N+43%C2%B052%2744.0%22E/%4056.3627501%2C43.8780791%2C173m/data%3D%213m1%211e3%214m5%213m4%211s0x0%3A0x0%218m2%213d56.362788%214d43.878875 |date=22 March 2023 }} via Google Maps. Retrieved 25 July 2021.</ref>

The ''Lun'' design had several drawbacks. One was that although the ground effect enabled it to fly at low altitude, in order to utilize the effect it had to fly as low as {{cvt|5-10|ft|order=flip}} off the water due to its short wingspan, so it could not fly when seas were even mildly rough. Another was that the craft was only designed to use the ground effect principle, so it could not ascend to higher cruising altitudes. The requirement for calm seas to operate, and the inability to fly above them if they were not, greatly limited where it was able to deploy.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://breakingdefense.com/2022/05/darpas-revolutionary-seaplane-wants-to-change-how-the-pentagon-hauls-cargo/ |title=DARPA's revolutionary seaplane wants to change how the Pentagon hauls cargo] |first=Justin |last=Katz |work=Breaking Defense |location=US |date=27 May 2022 }}</ref>

== Museum ship ==  On 31 July 2020, the completed MD-160 ''Lun''-class ekranoplan was towed out of the naval base in Kaspiysk, with the intention of being eventually put on public display in Derbent, Dagestan, at the planned Patriot Park, a combination museum and theme park that will display Soviet and Russian military equipment.<ref name="cnnRos">{{cite news |last1=Ros |first1=Miquel |date=22 October 2020 |title=The 'Caspian Sea Monster' rises from the grave |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/caspian-sea-monster-ekranoplan/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023012117/https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/caspian-sea-monster-ekranoplan/index.html |archive-date=23 October 2020 |access-date=23 October 2020 |website=CNN}}</ref><ref name="Cenciotti2020" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-01 |title=Экраноплан "Лунь" отбуксировали на вечную стоянку » Авиация России |url=https://aviation21.ru/ekranoplan-lun-otbuksirovali-na-vechnuyu-stoyanku/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |language=ru-RU}}</ref> The towing operation involved the use of rubber pontoons, three tugboats and two escort vessels, and would have covered approximately {{convert|62|miles|km|0|order=flip|abbr=in}} had it been completed.<ref name="cnnRos" /> However, during the tow the ekranoplan became stuck just offshore of a sandy beach, short of the intended destination.

The team managing the towing operation was unable to free the massive vehicle, so the ekranoplan was secured and remained beached in the surf zone while plans were drawn up on how to continue the move to Patriot Park. In the meantime, the unusual craft began attracting attention from the media, onlookers, and trespassing "urban explorers", even before the park was built.<ref name="cnnRos" /><ref name="urbanEx">{{cite web |last=Chapple |first=Amos |date=11 August 2020 |title=Belly Of The Beast: Illicit Photos From Inside The Soviet Ekranoplan |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/photographer-sneaks-inside-the-legendary-soviet-ekranoplan/30777774.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718055155/https://www.rferl.org/a/photographer-sneaks-inside-the-legendary-soviet-ekranoplan/30777774.html |archive-date=18 July 2021 |access-date=27 July 2021 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty}}</ref> One report published in August 2020 stated that the hull, exposed to the waves in the surf zone, was taking on water.<ref name="forbes">{{cite web |last=Sutton |first=H. I. |date=11 August 2020 |title=Russian Navy's Mighty 'Ekranoplan' May Have Been Wrecked |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/hisutton/2020/08/11/russian-navys-mighty-ekranoplan-may-have-been-wrecked/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210233727/https://www.forbes.com/sites/hisutton/2020/08/11/russian-navys-mighty-ekranoplan-may-have-been-wrecked/ |archive-date=10 February 2022 |access-date=27 July 2021 |work=Forbes}}</ref> Moving the craft to dry land beyond the surf zone would eliminate the possibility that increased wave action during storms could damage the hull further.

In December 2020 a successful recovery operation resulted in the ekranoplan being hauled out of the water, nose-first, with the tail ending up about {{cvt|20|-|30|m|ft|round=5}} from the sea, as seen from satellite imagery.<ref name="yandex">{{cite web |title=Satellite view of beached ''Lun'' ekranoplan |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ekranoplan+Lun/@41.9406377,48.3783425,399m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4049cf8d1ad410bd:0x22d3bb2247ea9971!8m2!3d41.9406711!4d48.3789282?shorturl=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423171554/https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ekranoplan+Lun/@41.9406377,48.3783425,399m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4049cf8d1ad410bd:0x22d3bb2247ea9971!8m2!3d41.9406711!4d48.3789282?shorturl=1 |archive-date=23 April 2022 |access-date=23 April 2022 |via=Google Maps}}</ref> The ekranoplan was towed ashore on 30 December 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ros |first=Miquel |date=22 October 2020 |title=The 'Caspian Sea Monster' rises from the grave |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/caspian-sea-monster-ekranoplan/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103031847/https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/caspian-sea-monster-ekranoplan/index.html |archive-date=3 January 2022 |access-date=15 January 2022 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> During transport, and subsequent haul up the beach, MD-160 suffered damage to its wing sponsons and fuselage.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Дмитрий |first=ЧАЙКА |title=Экраноплан "Лунь" повредили при транспортировке |url=https://mashnews.ru/ekranoplan-lun-povredili-pri-transportirovke.html |access-date=2025-11-03 |website=Информационно-аналитический портал «Новости промышленности MASHNEWS» |language=ru}}</ref>

In December 2024, Russian sources reported that MD-160 would be restored.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-11 |title=В Дагестане началась реставрация советского экраноплана "Лунь" » Авиация России |url=https://aviation21.ru/v-dagestane-nachalas-restavraciya-sovetskogo-ekranoplana-lun/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |language=ru-RU}}</ref>

In September 2025, it was announced that exterior and partial interior restoration of MD-160 was underway, aiming to return the craft to its original appearance and transformation into a museum exhibit.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-11 |title=Soviet “Lun” Ekranoplan Undergoing Restoration on Caspian Coast – RuAviation |url=https://ruavia.su/soviet-lun-ekranoplan-undergoing-restoration-on-caspian-coast/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |language=en-US}}</ref> This would also involve a partial repair of the damage to the vehicles flaps during its transport from Kaspiysk. Paint work was largely complete by mid October 2025, with MD-160 repainted in a grey colour scheme.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Алиев |first=Арслан |date=2025-09-25 |title=Парк «Патриот» в Дербенте пополнился еще двумя образцами военной техники - Новости - МирМол |url=https://mirmol.ru/novosti/park-patriot-v-derbente-popolnilsja-eshhjo-dvumja-obrazcami-voennoj-tehniki/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |website=Мирмол - портал актуальных новостей |language=ru-RU}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Подсмотрено |url=https://smartik.ru/derbent/post/239859834 |access-date=2025-11-03 |website=smartik.ru |language=ru}}</ref> The vehicle will be the central exhibit for the new Derbent Patriot Park, located in a new tourist cluster on the Caspian Sea, located south of the city.

== Gallery == <gallery> File:An artist's concept of a Soviet wing-in-ground effect vehicle.jpg|Artist's concept of a ''Lun''-class ekranoplan in flight. File:Lun-class ekranoplan 1.jpg|Lun class at Kaspiysk, Russia, in 2010. File:Лунь (84238).jpg|MD-160 being hauled up the beach, prior to the development of Derbent Patriot Park and subsequent restoration. File:Экраноплан Лунь.jpg|Scale model of a ''Lun''-class ekranoplan displayed in a museum </gallery>

==Specifications== {{Aircraft specs |ref=<ref name="WiG">{{cite web |url=http://www.se-technology.com/wig/index.php |title=Lun |last=van Optal |first=Edwin |publisher=The WIG Page |pages=The WIG Page Datasheet no. 26 |access-date=9 June 2012 |location=Netherlands |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614202700/http://www.se-technology.com/wig/index.php |archive-date=14 June 2012 }}</ref> |prime units?=met |crew=15 (6 officers, 9 enlisted) |capacity={{convert|137|t|lb|abbr=on}} |length m=73.8 |length ft= |length in= |length note= |span m=44 |span ft= |span in= |span note= |height m=19.2 |height ft= |height in= |height note= |wing area sqm=550 |wing area sqft= |wing area note= |aspect ratio= |airfoil= |empty weight kg=286,000 |empty weight lb= |empty weight note= |gross weight kg= |gross weight lb= |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight kg=380,000 |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity= |more general= |eng1 number=8 |eng1 name=Kuznetsov NK-87 |eng1 type=turbofans |eng1 kn=127.4 |eng1 lbf= |eng1 note= |thrust original= |eng1 kn-ab= |eng1 lbf-ab= |max speed kmh=550 |max speed mph= |max speed kts= |max speed note= |max speed mach= |cruise speed kmh=450 |cruise speed mph= |cruise speed kts= |cruise speed note=at {{convert|2.5|m|ft|abbr=on|0}} |stall speed kmh= |stall speed mph= |stall speed kts= |stall speed note= |minimum control speed kmh= |minimum control speed mph= |minimum control speed kts= |minimum control speed note= |range km=2,000 |range miles= |range nmi= |range note= |combat range km= |combat range miles= |combat range nmi= |combat range note= |ferry range km= |ferry range miles= |ferry range nmi= |ferry range note= |endurance= |ceiling m= 5 |ceiling ft= |ceiling note= in ground effect |g limits= |roll rate= |glide ratio= |climb rate ms= |climb rate ftmin= |climb rate note= |time to altitude= |lift to drag= |wing loading kg/m2= |wing loading lb/sqft= |wing loading note= |disk loading kg/m2= |disk loading lb/sqft= |disk loading note= |fuel consumption kg/km= |fuel consumption lb/mi= |thrust/weight= |more performance= |guns=two 23mm Pl-23 cannon in a twin tail turret and two 23mm Pl-23 cannon in a twin turret under forward missile tubes |bombs= |rockets= |missiles=six launchers for P-270 Moskit ''Sunburn'' anti-ship missiles |hardpoints= |hardpoint capacity= |hardpoint rockets= |hardpoint missiles= |hardpoint bombs= |hardpoint other= |avionics= }}

==Related development== * Caspian Sea Monster (KM) * Spasatel * A-050 * А-300-538

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Lun-class ekranoplan}} * {{YouTube|nZjHdNHGAo0|Brief video of the 2020 towing operation}} {{nbsp}} (1m0s) * {{YouTube|ife0fCU8PRw|Drone footage of ''Lun'' stuck in the beach surf zone}} {{nbsp}} (2m5s, silent) * [https://yandex.com/maps/?l=sat&ll=48.378850%2C41.940670&pt=48.37885%2C41.94067&z=17 Satellite view after ''Lun'' was successfully pulled ashore] via Yandex Maps * [https://www.wired.com/rawfile/2011/06/ekranoplan/?viewall=true ''Wired'' article with image gallery] (suitable for slow or metered connections) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110814161738/http://igor113.livejournal.com/51213.html Extensive ''Lun'' imagery (faster connection recommended)] with Russian text, or [http://imgur.com/a/kRUA8#DeEFfvn mirrored imagery] with translated captions * [http://www.hisutton.com/images/Lun-Ekranoplan-Cutaway.jpg Cutaway provisional drawing of the ''Lun''-class ekranoplan] via hisutton.com [http://www.hisutton.com/Russian-Navy-Ekranoplan-WIG.html ekranoplan/WIG page]

Category:Ekranoplans Category:Tandem-wing aircraft Lun Category:Three-surface aircraft Category:Eight-engined jet aircraft Category:T-tail aircraft