Lun Ekranoplan Wing-in-Ground Effect Flying Boat / Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft (1987)
The Lun Ekranoplan was one of the strangest - if successful - aircraft designs of the Cold War.
Make no mistake - the Ekranoplan was a large aircraft for its time. The design was an achievement by Rostislav Evgenievich Alexeev but was by no means a new concept. Wing-in-ground (WIG) effect aircraft were being tested as early as the 1930's, most notably by the German firm of Dornier. The Ekranoplan was unique in that it A) was a successful design attempt that was used operationally and B) it relied on turbojet power, something not afforded the systems of earlier attempts.
The Ekranoplan entered service with the Soviet Navy in 1987 with the designation of MD-160, operating in the Black Sea. The system was powered by no fewer than 8 turbojet engines mounted on a variable forward canard system (four per side) that would be controlled by the pilot during take off and could be leveled during flight. The fuselage was designed with the boat hull-style look common to many World War Two flying boat aircraft. Wings were mounted low at fuselage center and a V-shape high tail section rounded out the design components. The cockpit was fitted just forward of the wing roots and the entire system was crewed by fifteen personnel.
Operating as an anti-submarine variant, the MD-160 was fitted with six anti-ship missile launchers across the top of her fuselage. Each launcher was designed to fire the SS-N-22 Sunburn naval missile munition. Additionally, a single 23mm cannon was also afforded the crew for self-defense. A flying boat aerial hospital was planned from the MD-160 airframe, though the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 did the idea in. At present, it is believed that the Lun-class Ekranoplan is not in any type of operational service with the Russian fleet operating in the Black Sea. An impressive aircraft to say the least, the Ekranoplan was a major design challenge met and superceded by a nation that knows large aircraft quite well (see Antonov Mriya entry). Text ©2003-2013 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • No Reproduction Permitted
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Specifications for the
Lun Ekranoplan
Wing-in-Ground Effect Flying Boat / Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft
Country of Origin: Soviet Union
Manufacturer: Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau
Initial Year of Service: 1987
Production: 1
Focus Model: MD-160 (Lun Ekranoplan)
Crew: 15
Length: 242.13ft (73.8m)
Width: 144.36ft (44.00m)
Height: 8.20ft (2.50m)
Weight (Empty): 630,522lbs (286,000kg)
Weight (MTOW): 0lbs (0kg)
Powerplant: 8 x JSC Motorostroitel NK-37 turbojet engines delivering 28,600lbf each.
Maximum Speed: 633mph (1,019kmh; 550kts)
Maximum Range: 1,156miles (1,860km)
Service Ceiling: 24,600ft (7,498m; 4.7miles)
Rate-of-Climb: 0 feet per minute (0m/min)
Hardpoints: 0
Armament Suite:
1 x 23mm PI-23 Twin anti-aircraft cannon
6 x fixed SS-N-22 Sunburn anti-ship missile launchers
Variants:
MD-160 - Single Production Model Designation
Operators: the Soviet Union
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