The Caspian Sea Monster

[Yazata]

https://x.com/SGTWipper1Each/status/2003269885426827769

It looks totally fake, like bad AI. But it was real!

(US 'Keyhole' spy satellite photo)

[Image: Kaspiysk_rd_1968.jpg]

It was a super secret Soviet project that began in the late 1960's. When the United States discovered it in spy satellite photographs, the Americans freaked out! What in the world is that???? The American military and intelligence agencies called it the "Caspian Sea Monster".

Only two were ever built, the first a prototype that crashed in 1980 and was destroyed, the second a more finished naval attack (sorta)-aircraft called the 'Lun' that remained in research and development service until the late 1990's. Today it's a poorly-maintained museum exhibit.

(The Russians had a third one under construction at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it was never completed. There is talk that they have revived it and are working on it slowly, as funds become available. The idea is to use that one in the high arctic polar regions above the arctic ice cap. Assuming they ever complete it.)

(Photo of the 'Lun' today by Alexi Komorov)

[Image: 960px-Lun-class_ekranoplan_2021-09-24-1.jpg]

While it is a (sorta)-aircraft, it is only designed to fly about 20 meters/66 feet above the sea, taking advantage of the ground-effect aerodynamic interaction between the vehicle and the sea surface. Its advantage over other naval fast-attack boats is its speed, it cruises at about 250 mph and can top out at about 400 mph. What's more, operating so low it could come in under the radar in use at the time and avoid radar detection. The Soviet idea was that it would carry missiles and be used to attack American aircraft carrier battle groups. (The tilted cylinders on its back are cruise missile launchers.)

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