Latest news with #WIGcraft
The Sun
09-07-2025
- Science
- The Sun
China's terrifying new giant ‘sea monster' warplane pictured for first time – & it's a throwback to Cold War Soviet tech
CHILLING pictures have emerged showing China's terrifying new giant "sea monster" warplane for the first time. And the wing-in-ground effect (WIG) aircraft, commonly known as an ekranoplan, is a throwback to Soviet military tech from the Cold War era. 7 7 For the first time, the mysterious Chinese military plane was spotted in the Bohai Sea - reportedly undergoing testing. Dubbed the 'Bohai Sea Monster' by aviation analysts, the plane was seen floating on blue waters. Another picture showed the craft partly covered at a naval pier. The vehicle has a boat-shaped fuselage with a horizontal stabiliser on top of the joined V-shape tail – a common configuration for WIG craft. It could be used to facilitate rapid coastal transport, resupply missions, or amphibious operations, according to aviation and maritime experts. China has been flexing its military muscles to intimidate Taiwan, which has hit back with increased drills of its own. The satellite images show three specialised barges, each with two arms of roadway, lining up next to each other. They connect to form a continuous bridge along which invading ground vehicles such as tanks could trundle ashore. Huge retractable legs anchor the barges to the seabed like stilts. What is en ekranoplan? An ekranoplan, first developed by the Russians, is a military vehicle that resembles a hybrid between an aircraft and a ship. These vehicles are also known as ground-effect vehicles (GEV), wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) craft, or wingships. They are designed to fly at very low altitudes over a level surface, usually water, by taking advantage of an aerodynamic principle called the ground effect. An ekranoplan utilises the aerodynamic interaction between the moving wing and the surface below - which could be ground or water. When a wing moves close to the ground, air pressure on the underside of the wing increases, creating a cushion of air. This air cushion increases lift and reduces drag, allowing the vehicle to glide just a few meters above the surface. This is a dynamic air cushion that is created by the forward speed of the craft. A SOVIET RELIC Caspian Sea Monster, a 302ft Soviet Sea Monster, was a prime example of an ekranoplan. The aquatic beast is perhaps one of the weirdest-looking machines ever built, with four engines stacked in a row on each of its wings. It was bigger than a Boeing 747 and armed to the teeth with missiles, was beyond unique with eight huge jet engines. The hybrid ship-aircraft, officially named Korabl Maket, was built by the Soviet Union during the Cold War and weighed 240 tonnes when empty, with a 72ft height, a 123ft wingspan, and a top speed of 310mph. It was an experimental vehicle developed in the 1960s and intended to attack Nato nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers. It carried six anti-ship missiles in launch tubes at the top of its hull, which could travel up to 60 miles at three times the speed of light. The machine first entered service in 1966 and was continuously tested by the Soviet Navy, until it crashed in the Caspian Sea in 1980. It was decommissioned when the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s and lay dormant for more than three decades at Kaspiysk naval base, about 62 miles up the coast from Derbent. A second Sea Monster was designed for rescue and supply missions and was nearly completed by the early 1990s - but the project was scrapped when the Soviet Union collapsed, at the same time the existing ekranoplan was withdrawn from service. 7 7 7 AMERICA'S ANSWER The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon's right arm, is building a ground-effect vehicle (GEV) expected to take to the skies from 2027. Called the Liberty Lifter, the aircraft will be responsible for the transportation of war logistics on a mass scale. The futuristic plane will be able to transport heavy and bulky equipment way quicker than existing cargo aircraft and ships while covering greater distances. As an ekranoplan, it will fly low over the ocean surface while fighting a wide range of weather conditions. It will also be able to fly at high altitudes up to 10,000 feet for short but frequent periods. Similar to a hovercraft, it will be able to glide over water on a cushion of air, allowing it to be quicker and more efficient. And its mass size will allow it to stay stable while carrying tonnes of goods. The DARPA said in a statement: "The Liberty Lifter program is currently designing and will build, float, and fly an affordable and innovative seaplane that can potentially transform fast logistics missions for the DOD and commerce." In addition to operating over water, the Liberty Lifter will also be able to cruise over any relatively flat surface, including rivers, deserts - and even snow fields. The United States considered building ekranoplans during the Cold War just like the Russians. American spies were once convinced that ekranoplans could be used for laying mines, as well as for anti-submarine warfare and search and rescue operations. 7
South China Morning Post
09-07-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
Is China's ‘Bohai Monster' a revival of Soviet-era cargo transport technology?
A large wingship has been spotted in China's Bohai Sea , revealing Beijing's progress in developing its own version of the maritime cargo lifter while Washington races to revive this Soviet-era technology. Advertisement Two pictures purporting to show the mysterious Chinese wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) craft – dubbed the 'Bohai Monster' by some observers – emerged on social media last week, with one giving a full view of it above the water's surface. The other image shows the craft sitting on a pier, facing away from the camera. The vehicle has a boat-shaped fuselage with a horizontal stabiliser on top of the joined V-shape tail – a common configuration for WIG craft. A buoyancy float can be seen fitted to each wingtip and four engines appear to be mounted side by side on top of the craft's wings. The engines are widely considered to be jet-powered but military website The War Zone suggested they could be propeller engines. A WIG craft – also known as an ekranoplan, as it is called in Russian – works on the 'ground effect' principle, which describes an interaction between the underwing airflow and the surface below that produces a rise in static pressure and a reduction in drag. Advertisement The most famous WIG craft was a Soviet prototype developed in the 1960s – the 'Caspian Sea Monster', which was the biggest and heaviest aircraft in the world of its time. It was 92 metres (302 feet) long and had a maximum take-off weight of 544 tonnes. By travelling over flat surfaces – ground or water – at low altitudes, WIG craft can take advantage of the reduced drag to travel more efficiently in terms of fuel and payload capacity than higher-flying aircraft.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
China's Mysterious Ekranoplan Seen In Full For First Time
We are getting our first full look at China's wing-in-ground effect (WIG) craft. It was first identified last week by our friend and submarine warfare analyst HI Sutton. You can read his initial post at Naval News here. It was originally spotted in an image with its nose section obscured. In that image, the flying-boat-hulled aircraft was pictured sitting on a pier situated on the Bohai Sea, which sits at the northwestern reach of the South China Sea. As we have discussed many times before, the Soviet Union was famed for its experimentation and semi-operational use of large WIG craft known as Ekranoplans. The capability and tactical concepts surrounding it never really caught on en-masse, but we are currently experiencing a renaissance of sorts for large WIG aircraft that aim to race above the thick air above the water with relative efficiency and speed (most can fly less efficiently at higher altitudes too). The U.S. is developing just such an aircraft, the Liberty Lifer, in hopes that it could be used to deliver heavy cargo, personnel and materiel to far-flung locales across the great expanses of the Pacific. In doing so it would help reduce some of the Pentagon's looming logistic woes were it to fight across such a large theater. In the case of this mysterious aircraft being tested by China, it is loosely similar in scale to what we have seen of their new amphibious flying boat, the AG600, which is intended to perform resupply, search and rescue, and other missions, especially over the South China Sea. This WIG aircraft appears ideally suited for similar applications in the littorals. Flying low utilizing the thick cushion of air above the water to increase lift and decrease drag, the aircraft also stays under the surface/land-based radar horizon. Considering it is an aircraft, not a boat, it isn't vulnerable to mines, submarines, and other dangers that can lurk even in seemingly lower-threat waters. Still, it is not a survivable asset in a highly contested combat arena, but if a war were to erupt between the U.S. and China, China would be fighting in their own backyard, unlike the United States. Vast areas extending from its shores will remain readily accessible for periods of time. This is where such an aircraft would be useful even in a high-end fight — providing logistical support to remote areas and especially in recovering downed aircrew and other personnel. Even sea control and anti-submarine warfare applications are real possibilities. The biggest claim surrounding this aircraft is that it's jet powered. The image of its rear seems to point to that, but at the time we thought this remained very inconclusive as it looked like propellers may have been intended for it but not yet fitted. Still the exhausts looked large for a turboprop. This new pictures from the front is also inconclusive and there may be spindles or at least some sort of spike at the front of the engine nacelles, which would point to propellers. There are also upper inlets as well, which would mean two large inlets per nacelle if it was jet powered, which seems odd. It's also quite possible that this uses a new hybrid-electric propulsion system, which may make a lot of sense for this kind of aircraft. Regardless, these are low-resolution images that are sparse in details, and the aircraft could end up being jet powered, but it remains a significant question mark for us. As for the rest of the aircraft, it has a large joined v-tail, which is not uncommon for WIG craft. The wings have large outrigger wing-float sponsons on their tips and the hull appears to have smaller sponsons amidships. The nose is perhaps the most exotic element and it looks blended for efficiency, at least in a modern sense. The aircraft very likely leverages heavy use of composite structures allowing for weight savings, aerodynamic enhancement, and limited signature control as a byproduct. We also see a common flying boat stepped hull and a larger door open on its side, which would be useful for hauling cargo and recovering personnel. It's also worth noting that this aircraft could very well be a technology demonstrator that is meant to test a variety of design elements. It could even be a subscale one, or it could be meant to at least inform larger designs. On that note, it has clear similarities to the Pentagon's Liberty Lifter very large WIG craft that is in the works. So there you have it, our first full view of the 'Bohai Sea Monster,' as Sutton calls it. As with any new aircraft 'leaks' out of China, we should see a steady stream of higher-resolution imagery of this craft in the weeks to come. Contact the author: Tyler@
