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First full photo of Chinese Ekranoplan
The interesting image in this post features the first full photo of the new Chinese Ekranoplan wing-in-ground effect (WIG) vehicle.
The aircraft has been nicknamed the ‘Bohai Sea Monster’ (echoing the Cold War-era Soviet moniker, ‘Caspian Sea Monster‘ used for the Ekranoplan) because has been spotted along the Bohai Sea, a northern extension of the South China Sea.
No much more is known about China’s Ekranoplan: it is not clear if the image shows a prototype or an operational design. However, it could probably be a tech demonstrator, or a testbed for future, larger versions. Nevertheless, the ‘Bohai Sea Monster’ appears similar in size to China’s AG600 flying boat, which handles resupply and search and rescue missions.
China’s WIG vehicle features the typical Ekranoplans configuration: a flying boat hull with a distinctive T-tail arrangement with two vertical stabilizers, a comparatively short wingspan and large tail.
The ‘Bohai Sea Monster’ would be powered by four jet engines mounted above the wing with slightly flattened nozzles suggesting downward angled thrust.
Military role
Its military role is highlighted by its low grey paint scheme. The aircraft would be suited for transport, including in the context of amphibious operations. The new type may therefore be an assault transport.
According to Naval News, China’ Ekranoplan could complement Beijing’s projects of aircraft specifically tailored for search and rescue (SAR) operations and firefighting, like the massive AVIC AG600 flying boat.
Another theory is that the ‘Bohai Sea Monster’ would be a cargo plane or cargo drone designed for rapid resupply of island garrisons, and to support amphibious landings: the Ekranoplan in fact is also reminiscent of the number of uncrewed cargo planes now being tested in China.
A ground-effect vehicle (GEV), also called a wing-in-ground-effect (WIGE or WIG), ground-effect craft/machine (GEM), wingship, flarecraft, surface effect vehicle or ekranoplan (Russian: экранопла́н – “screenglider”), is a vehicle that is able to move over the surface by gaining support from the reactions of the air against the surface of the earth or water reaching speeds of up to 310 mph. According to Wiki, typically, it is designed to glide over a level surface (usually over the sea) by making use of ground effect, the aerodynamic interaction between the moving wing and the surface below. Some models can operate over any flat area such as frozen lakes or flat plains similar to a hovercraft.
Liberty Lifter
The Lun-class ekranoplan (Soviet classification: Project 903) 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.
The name Lun comes from the Russian word for the harrier. The Lun-class ekranoplan was armed with six Moskit (SS-N-22 ‘Sunburn’) supersonic anti-ship missiles and was developed on the basis of the experimental KM ekranoplan, which was nicknamed the “Caspian Sea Monster”.
The US would be working on a similar project too: the aircraft would provide rapid logistics across the Pacific and would be called the ‘Liberty Lifter‘. As reported by Interesting Engineering, WIG craft could be helpful for military logistics, moving people or supplies quickly across the ocean spaces while staying below radar.
Photo credit: DARPA
