Editing Lun-class ekranoplan (section)

==Design and development==
[[File:Lun-class ekranoplan 1.jpg|thumb|Lun class at Kaspiysk, Russia, in 2010]]
[[File:Экраноплан Лунь.jpg|thumb|Scale model of a ''Lun''-class [[ekranoplan]] displayed in a museum]]

The ''Lun''-class ekranoplan was developed on the basis of the experimental KM ekranoplan, which was nicknamed the "[[Caspian Sea Monster]]".

The ''Lun'' was powered by eight [[Kuznetsov NK-87]] [[turbofan]]s mounted on forward [[canard (aeronautics)|canards]], each producing {{convert|127.4|kN|lbf|abbr=on}} of thrust. It had a [[flying boat]] hull with a large deflecting plate at the bottom to provide a "step" for takeoff.<ref name="Flying Magazine" /> It had a maximum cruising speed of {{convert|340|mph|km/h|order=flip}}.<ref name="Business Insider" />

Equipped for [[anti-surface warfare]], it carried the [[P-270 Moskit|P-270 ''Moskit'']] (Mosquito) [[guided missile]]. Six [[missile launcher]]s were mounted in pairs on the dorsal surface of its [[fuselage]] with advanced tracking systems mounted in its nose and tail.<ref name="Hollebone2012">{{cite book |author=Ashley Hollebone |title=The Hovercraft Story |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4X47AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT33 |date=31 March 2012 |publisher=History Press Limited |isbn=978-0-7524-8512-6 |pages=33– }}</ref>

The only model of this class ever built to completion, the '''MD-160''', entered service with the Soviet Navy [[Caspian Flotilla]] in 1987. It was retired in the late 1990s and sat unused at a [[Caspian Sea]] naval base in [[Kaspiysk]] until 2020.<ref name="Business Insider" /><ref name="Ferguson2013">{{cite book |author=Norman Ferguson |title=The Little Book of Aviation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9J07AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT102 |date=1 April 2013 |publisher=History Press Limited |isbn=978-0-7524-9285-8 |pages=102– }}</ref><ref name=Cenciotti2020/>

The second ''Lun''-class ekranoplan was partially built in the late 1980s. While its construction was underway, it was redesigned as a mobile [[field hospital]] for rapid deployment to any ocean or coastal location. It was named the ''[[Spasatel]]'' ("Rescuer"). Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and cancellation of military funding, construction of the second craft was halted.<ref name="YunBliault2009" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Fast Ferry International |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=talWAAAAMAAJ |year=2003 |publisher=High-Speed Surface Craft Limited }}</ref> As of 2021, the uncompleted ''Spasatel'' is stored adjacent to the [[Volga river]] in an old industrial complex within the central Russian city of [[Nizhny Novgorod]].<ref>[https://www.google.com/maps/place/56%C2%B021'46.0%22N+43%C2%B052'44.0%22E/@56.3627501,43.8780791,173m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d56.362788!4d43.878875 Satellite view of uncompleted ''Lun''-class ekranoplan in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322113530/https://www.google.com/maps/place/56%C2%B021%2746.0%22N+43%C2%B052%2744.0%22E/%4056.3627501%2C43.8780791%2C173m/data%3D%213m1%211e3%214m5%213m4%211s0x0%3A0x0%218m2%213d56.362788%214d43.878875 |date=22 March 2023 }} via Google Maps. Retrieved 25 July 2021.</ref>

The ''Lun'' design had several drawbacks. One was that although the ground effect enabled it to fly at low altitude, in order to utilize the effect it had to fly as low as {{cvt|5-10|ft|order=flip}} off the water due to its short wingspan, so it could not fly when seas were even mildly rough. Another was that the craft was only designed to use the ground effect principle, so it could not ascend to higher cruising altitudes. The requirement for calm seas to operate, and the inability to fly above them if they were not, greatly limited where it was able to deploy.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://breakingdefense.com/2022/05/darpas-revolutionary-seaplane-wants-to-change-how-the-pentagon-hauls-cargo/ |title=DARPA's revolutionary seaplane wants to change how the Pentagon hauls cargo] |first=Justin |last=Katz |work=Breaking Defense |location=US |date=27 May 2022 }}</ref>