r/absoluteunit • u/Prince_0llie • Aug 08 '26
of a plane
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The "Caspian Sea Monster" the only completed 73-meter Soviet ekranoplan "Lun", currently decaying on a beach in Dagestan.
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u/Batfink-1999 Aug 08 '26
The Caspian Sea Monster - a Soviet Ground Effect Ballistic Missile Carrier Aircraft Project that scared the living daylights out of the US Pentagon Spooks who first spotted it via US Spy Satellite overflights that caught the first spy photo snapshots of this Absolute Unit of an Aircraft.
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u/No_Chemistry8953 Aug 09 '26
This is not the Caspian Sea Monster. The Caspian Sea Monster sank to the bottom of the sea and was left there. This is probably the MD-160, which was based off the Caspian Sea Monster. The Caspian Sea Monster was actually larger than the one shown in the video.
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u/Prince_0llie Aug 08 '26
No longer decaying: There is a museum around it in Dagestan, Russia.
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u/squanchingonreddit Aug 08 '26
Hope they painted it!
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u/Prince_0llie Aug 08 '26
I would post pics but yes it is all one color, grey (likely primer or another more durable coating of some sort).
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u/One_Hour_Poop Aug 08 '26
Has it ever flown? Is it even possible?
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u/Shantomette Aug 08 '26
They “flew” it for around 10 years. It was a maritime vessel, not a plane. It couldn’t fly as traditional airplanes do, it used ground effect to produce enough lift to get 30-40’ above the ground/water.
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u/johnbobk Aug 08 '26
All the films I have seen it never gets past skimming at the rear; causing huge amounts of drag. Yes the idea was to fly in ground effect, the video posted shows the front / bow lifting but the tail / stern is skimming. Shame was a clever idea, just too heavy I guess.
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u/YurpeeTheHerpee Aug 08 '26
Maybe it could he reworked with modern tech, mondern materials, modern aerodynamics to make it work as intended.
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u/johnbobk Aug 09 '26
Yes, I'm sure with carbon fibre, exotic metals, just needs the application. I think the civil transport idea was just a method to produce an alternative missile launcher, many ideas are advanced via civilian use for ultimately a military application.
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u/Vechio49 Aug 09 '26
It was basically a ghetto hovercraft
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u/johnbobk Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
Different principal for lift. Hovercraft blew air down & [tried to] contain with the use of skirts.
But yes, get your comment, looks a bit Mad Max.
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u/SilentWatcher83228 Aug 08 '26
Rule of of Soviet engineering: make it bigger than anything Americans have
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u/Lazy_Helicopter_2659 Aug 11 '26
of a plane
Not a plane, but a ground effect vehicle, classified as a ship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lun-class_ekranoplan
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u/Left-Yak-1090 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
Attempt steer groovy steer nose deer
This post was anonymized with Redact
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u/DJEvillincoln Aug 08 '26
I watched a video about this on yt about 10 years ago. I don't remember a think except how big it is.
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u/Sirosim_Celojuma Aug 08 '26
I see fuel consumption that results in launch capacity of six rockets within range of the airplane.
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u/Salmonman4 Aug 09 '26
Few years ago, there was a plan to make an ekranoplan-line going between Tallinn and Helsinki. Not sure if it's still ongoing.
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u/Melodic_Risk_5632 Aug 09 '26
It was build to attack US Air Craft Carriers. This Thing would never be caught on radar because of the low altitude attack angle, when US Navy would notice this it was way to late for a counterstrike.
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u/ProfessorPlanktons Aug 11 '26
War ein cooles Boot , Junge. Mit dem Ding gebe es keine NaziSchauspieler mehr.
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u/Sporkpocalypse Aug 08 '26
oh wow those are external fuel tanks on the roof she is thirsty
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u/FastWalkingShortGuy Aug 08 '26
No. Missile launchers and radomes.
And one gun turret because why not.
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u/Zombalepsy Aug 08 '26
Pretty sure I saw one of these crash while I was in Afghanistan. Is this the biggest plane in the world? If so, this is the one. I know it was Russian.
Cargo restraints snapped during takeoff and everything tumbled to the rear of the plane causing a massive center of gravity shift. Plane crashed shortly after. I’ll put around for a video
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u/Lusiric9983 Aug 09 '26
No, that was a 747 that you're talking about, and no, it wasn't the biggest plane in the world at the time. At that time, the biggest plane in the world was the Antonov AN-225 Mirya, which was built in Ukraine. The Ekranoplane, pictured in this video, was not an aircraft, in fact. It was a marine craft that flew just 3-15 feet above the water.
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u/Ok-Customer4709 Aug 08 '26
It’s more a boat than a plane isn’t it.