Russia Revives Its Soviet-Era Ekranoplan Project

When the Soviet Union started developing their massive ekranoplan or "flying ship" dubbed 'KM' in the mid-1960s, the CIA was so scared that it developed a drone specifically to spy on the KM.

Bewildered Western military experts dubbed it the "Caspian Sea Monster." It was followed by the Lun-class ekranoplan outfitted with six Moskit anti-ship missiles. The Lun was deployed in 1987, and remained in service until the 1990s.

And now Russia has revived the once-shelved project. Ekranoplans or ground effect vehicles (GEVs) are vehicles that can be elevated above ground or water, but they are different from a hovercraft or aircraft.

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