EKRANOPLAN: A HIGH-SPEED MARINE VEHICLE OF A NEW TYPE

During the years 1960-80, the USSR developed an innovate high-speed marine vehicle called Ekranoplan. The paper describes design, hydro- and aerodynamic features of these craft, and discusses the problems which had to be solved for practical implementation of the wing-in-water-surface concept. Performance and seakeeping data accumulated from operating a number of Ekranoplan vehicles and proving a wide range of unconventional capabilities offered by such craft is presented.