Russia may start mass production of military and civil wing-in-ground effect vehicles as soon as 2015, the head of the Alekseev Hydrofoil Design Bureau Sergei Platonov said on Friday.
Wing-in-ground effect (WIGE) vehicles - also referred to as water-skimming wingships, flarecraft, or by the Russian term ekranoplan - are vehicles that fly near the surface of the Earth due to the ground effect created by the aerodynamic interaction of the wings and the surface.
Russia is planning to start production of high-payload flarecraft, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Wednesday during a meeting of the state modernization committee at Ramenskoye Instrument Engineering Plant.
"Now we must produce universal things able to solve military tasks in times of war, and civil tasks in peacetime," Platonov said.
There are no analogues in the world. The Americans have been working on a pilot model but have not finished it yet, Platonov said.
Commenting on the advantages of ground effect vehicles, Platonov said their technical characteristics exceed those of both ships and conventional aircraft.
One ground effect vehicle now on the design board would be able to deploy 32 Novator Club cruise missiles.
"What other craft can also deploy so many missiles given that a flarecraft is nearly invisible and has a speed of 500 kilometers an hour [311 mph] at two or three meters above the sea or land?" Platonov said.
MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti)
