The LUN-class Ekranoplan is a one-off freak of a machine. Somehow more radical than the original “Caspian Sea Monster” that preceded it, the craft, known as MD-160, has managed to wash up on a beach in Daghestan, reportedly as part of a museum exhibit…though, pardon us for our lack of optimism here, but this doesn’t look like a museum piece. Originally built as a missile-carrying ground effect vehicle, the craft has been sitting in a drydock in Nizhny Novgorod for decades, making a fantastic home for birds about pretty much nothing else. It’s a bit of a sad end for a vehicle so radical that when its predecessor was discovered in 1967, the CIA was very nervous about what they were seeing.
While there are usual rumblings about how certain higher-end Soviet-era projects will be funded once more (like a second AN-225 aircraft being finished, for starters) the LUN seems to be a dead duck. MD-160 is pretty much a museum piece at best, and a hulk at the worst. Sitting on a beach isn’t helping matters, that’s for sure…the S.S. America on Fuerteventura proved what the ocean can do to even the most robust ship. Since it’s unlikely that tours will ever be given, take this chance to check out some interior shots taken courtesy of a couple of urban explorers:
Amazing creation, I do see a couple of design flaws. 1, Too many fuel gulping engines, 2, It cruises so low seagulls and other birds will take out one or more engines. Nature will take this low flying boat out pretty soon.