The small-size autonomous ekranoplans might have many uses in the civil and military world.

We all remember the Soviet Ekranoplan called the "Caspian sea monster".(1).  The large-size ground-effect plane that planned for fast amphibious, and anti-ship, and anti-submarine platform. There were also other but smaller projects like four A-90 "Orlynok" ekranoplans. Those were in test drive with the Soviet Navy. 

The successor of the "Caspian sea monster" was the "Lun"-class ekranoplan, which was in service from 1988 to the late 1990s. Those ekranoplans or ground-effect (WIG (Wing-In Ground)or GEV (Ground-Effect Vehicles) aircraft planned to make low altitude attacks against the enemy fleet and transport troops so fast that the enemy could not react to those operations. 

There is planned to make ship-size ekranoplans. But those projects remain at the level of drawings. But the small-size ekranoplans can be acting as the sea-skimming cruise missile. The origin of that idea is also in Soviet Navy. The giant Bartini-Beriev VVA-14 (5)officially planned to destroy the enemy surface warships. But there is the possibility that some specialists planned to arm this strange-looking aerial vehicle by using an internal warhead. 

Images: 

Image 1: A-90 "Orlyonok"

Image 2: "Lun"-class ekranoplan

Image 3: Bartini-Beriev VVA-14

That means the remote-control version of the VVA-14 could act as the missile. And those vehicles could arm with large thermonuclear warheads. So that system would be the flying version of Status-6 "Kanyon" torpedo that carries 1-100 mt. internal warheads(6). The ground-effect craft can carry the nuclear torpedo in the internal bomb bay. 

And they can drop those torpedos at the right point. Those systems can also collect nuclear torpedos from the ocean. The nuclear torpedo is a small-size miniature submarine that uses RTG or nuclear battery for patrolling. 

Or the term "nuclear torpedo" means the miniature kamikaze-submarine which is equipped with a nuclear detonator. If those nuclear torpedos are patrolling there should be vehicles that can collect them out of water.  But the same systems can also make kamikaze attacks against the targets. 

 When we are thinking of the small-size ekranoplans they can drop from bombers. And those weapons can fly extremely low altitudes and hit the ships. Or those systems can fly inside the hardened bunkers and detonate inside them. 

Sources and images

(1)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_Sea_Monster

(2)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-90_Orlyonok

(3)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lun-class_ekranoplan

(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-effect_vehicle

(5)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartini_Beriev_VVA-14

(6)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status-6_Oceanic_Multipurpose_System

Image 1:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-effect_vehicle

Image 2:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lun-class_ekranoplan

Image 3:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartini_Beriev_VVA-14

MiG-105 "Spiral": the Soviet miniature shuttle

Picture I

http://crisisofdemocracticstates.blogspot.com/p/mig-105-spiral-soviet-miniature-shuttle.html

Kimmo Huosionmaa

The Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau made tests in 1980's with very small size space-shuttle, what became famous, when some Australian P-3 "Orion" took the picture of this thing, what was mentioned as the "Soviet space fighter". The Soviet authorities claimed that the Soviet Union would not develop space shuttles, but the pictures, what are taken from the "Plesetsk-cosmodrome" have been shown something else. Here I must mention, that there were two shuttle programs in the Soviet Union. Another one was "Buran" the large spacecraft, what had the size like American space shuttle.


That program shut down after a couple of tests and the Western intelligence believed, the purpose of that miniature space shuttle were military, and it would be developed for destroying other spacecraft. There were also some other analyzes, what was frighten the Western world. Those analyzes were that the MiG-105 was the prototype of the next generation cruise missile, what could be more terrible than HCM (Hypersonic Cruise Missile)could ever be.


Because of the photos, what was taken by P-3 Orion, and where the small size lifting body would be rescued from the sea to the Soviet naval vessel made the engineers believed, that this missile, could be used the EKRANOPLAN or WIG (Win In-Ground) what is normally called the "ground effect airplane". This technology would allow, that the cruise missile would make the "parabolic jump", and then land to the altitude of three meters for the surface of the ocean. In some scenarios, this weapon could be equipped with three jet motors, what could be at the bottom of this thing.


Those jet engines would make the landing to the ground effect flight easily, and the missile would continue with ramjets or rocket engines, and the most effective those missiles would be against warships like aircraft carriers. This could make the missile more deadly, than ever. The Russian new HCS would use the same technology, what is used in the MiG-105.




Picture I

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5f/8f/35/5f8f35f62288c224c1a4299334214a25.jpg