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A-080 Chaika-3

The ekranoplan is a high-speed vehicle, a cross between a heavy aircraft and a light boat. The device flies within the limits of the aerodynamic screen, at a height of up to several meters from the surface of the water or the ground. Earlier in Russia, two models of WIGs for the armed forces were developed - the military transport Orlyonok and the Lun attack airplane with cruise missiles, but in the 1990s these projects were curtailed due to a lack of funding.

The Alekseev Design Bureau is working on the creation of the A-080 Chaika-3 multi-purpose vehicle-made WIG with a take-off weight of 100 tons. Despite the fact that the dual purpose of such equipment is not advertised, it is obvious that the Ministry of Defense will not disregard it. In particular, the head of the shipbuilding department of the Russian Navy, the captain of the first rank Vladimir Tryapichnikov let out at one of the exhibitions that the item "EKV development" will be included in the shipbuilding program until 2050.

In October 2014 the Alekseev Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau announced it had begun the development of ekranoplans, which were previously planned to be abandoned in Russia. During Soviet times, ekranoplans were very active. As it became known today, Russia is returning to the idea of ??producing these unusual . Their production vehicles will be held in the framework of the state program "Development of civil marine equipment."

An ekranoplan is a ship on a dynamic air cushion, the name derived from the words "screen" and "airplane". This is a high-speed vehicle, the device, which flies at a low altitude above the water, rising under the influence of the screen for a few meters. As he flies over the snow, ice and land on the same height. The technological value of an airplane is that in terms of weight and speed of movement it is similar to an airplane, but its wing area is much smaller. In the international classification, it applies to ships at all, and not to vehicles capable of flying. They can fly on a variety of routes. For some time they are able to go into the "airplane" flight mode.

as fo 2014 there was a development of two projects of large passenger ekranoplans. The journalists were told by the general director of the manufacturing company Sergey Platonov. One ship of model ?-050 is at the stage of preliminary design and technical project development. Another ship model A-080 is already beginning to experience in the pool. “The enterprise is designing several large ekranoplans as part of the state program,” explained Platonov.

Talks on the production of WIG in Russia have been going on for over a year. So, last winter, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that the Ministry of Defense should determine the order of use of these vessels, and then it will be possible to start production. Then, a year ago, in the fall of 2013, the Aquaglide-5 marine passenger wig was already introduced. In the spring, they talked about the mass production of new ekranoplanes. In July 2014, according to media reports, the Ministry of Industry and Trade declared its readiness to launch such a mass production.

As of October 2014 it was planned that the first ekranoplan will be ready in three years [ie, 2017], the second - in three and a half [ie, 2018]. Needless to say, these milestones were not met.