This Caspian Sea Monster Was a Giant Soviet Spruce Goose Soviet engineering is often derided as effective but crude and simplistic, but thats a bum rap. The USSR produced a number of technologies that were as visually arresting as they were effective. Just look at the sleek, humongous, flying hammerhead named Ekranoplan. The Lun-class (Harrier) Ekranoplan is a ground-effect vehicle, that is, one that takes advantage of the increase in lift and decrease in drag that flying close to a fixed surface provides—typically within 13 feet or less. These craft were created by famed engineer Rostislav Evgenievich Alexeev at the Soviet Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau in the late 1980s. The only unit to be actually produced actively served in the Russian Army and Navy for over a decade beginning in 1987. The MD-160, dubbed the Caspian Sea Monster by US Intelligence services, was indeed one of a kind. This massive 550-ton seaplane measured 240 feet long and 63 feet tall with a 144 foot wingspan—thats longer than the Spruce Goose and bigger than many modern commercial airliners. It was capable of carrying up to 137 tons (270,000 pounds) of troops and equipment—including as many as six nuclear missiles—at speeds up to 350 MPH as far as 1,080 nmi—albeit only 16 feet off the surface of the water. Eight Kuznetsov 28,600 lbf NK-87 turbofans mounted on the front cannards provided the thrust to get the seaplanes hull up and out of the water and engage the ground effect. youtu.be/gIr8bjg_o2U
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 22:42:02 +0000