In total, project 903 "Lun" was designed to create eight attack missile ekranoplanes, which were developed by the talented designer Rostislav Alekseev. The project was so secret that even the word "ekranoplan" was forbidden to be mentioned outside the walls of the design bureau. According to Western classification, such devices are called WIG - Wing-In-Ground effect.
For the first time, the Americans encountered the prototype of the "Moon" in 1967, when a giant plane was discovered in the images of a spy plane from the Caspian Sea, which was immediately named the "Caspian Monster" because of concerns. The length of the "monster" was one hundred meters, and the wingspan was only forty. At the same time, he could fly at a speed of about five hundred km / h at altitudes that the air defense simply did not control.
Scheme * Caspian Monster * - * KM *.
A rare snapshot from the * KM * tests.
It was Alekseev's experienced ekranoplan - "KM" (but not "Caspian Monster", but just "Ship-Model"). The entire giant was five hundred and forty tons, the area of the wings was six hundred and sixty-two meters. But the Americans were not mistaken in one thing - the purpose of the plans being developed by the screen was to fight with surface-to-water missiles.
Lun.
After comprehensive tests of the KM, the Lun was laid down at its base. The Volga plant was located at the Gorky Central Design Bureau, and it was there, in 1983, that the construction of a secret ekranoplan began under the leadership of the chief designer for project 903, Vladimir Nikolaevich Kirillov. It was completed in 1986, and modifications and various types of tests took place until 1989, and the Lun was transferred into operation in the 91st, 236-ekranoplan battalion of the Caspian Flotilla.
Rocket salvo from * Lunya *.
Promotional video:
During the design and construction of the "Lunya", the monoplane aircraft scheme was used. To reduce weight and reduce the likelihood of corrosion, the body was made of magnesium-aluminum alloy, with a thickness of four to twelve millimeters. The cockpit for the pilots is located in the bow, the stern is equipped with a T-shaped tail.
Lun.
The hull was seventy-three meters long and was divided into ten compartments. The hull had three deck levels. The wing had a span of forty-four meters and an area of five hundred and fifty square meters. Fuel tanks were located inside. For takeoff and landing, a water ski was used, attached to the bottom of the hull. Eight NK-87 engines, with a total capacity of 104 kgf, made up the power plant, located on a pylon in the bow.
The collapse of the USSR also played out on the "Moon". Work on the creation of the remaining seven devices was discontinued. And even the project of converting the second "Lunya" into the rescue ship "Rescuer" was not completed. And the combat "Lun" has been rusting for many years in the dock in the city of Kaspiysk.
