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Crazy Russian Plane-Boat Amalgam with Cruise Missiles

Caspian Sea Monster!

A great example of why, even if you have the money, not every idea needs to see the light of day.
 
That is awesome, looks like something from one of those vertically scrolling fighter games. My question is..... did it ever fly?
 
Kinda scary when you realize that thing was packing 6 Sunburn Missiles and moving around at 500 knots. Thats the same kind of firepower as a Sovremenny Class Destroyer.
 
This was found (accidentally, we were told) by overhead photos just as it was being completed. It was dubbed the Caspian Sea Monster, like Pags said, and it was thought to be less of an armed threat that a large ground-effect assault craft, flying a large number of troops across the water for a quick assault. I don't know if it ever flew, but it hadn't by the time I left EUCOM in '74.
 
I wonder how big of a "what the shit?" went through the intel weenie's gourd when he came across the sat photos of that thing. I guess with enough thrust, you can make anything kind of fly.
 
I'd hate to do corrosion control on that thing. Still kind of cool though.
 
Actually when you really think about it, it's a pretty freakin inventive way to solve a big problem. Fortunately/unfortunately a change in power/leadership in the Soviet Union at the time killed the project.
Instead of flying in tons of transports, which would most likely have been shot down, or sending in a fleet of slow moving ships to assault ground defenses you take care of both at the same time. You move in a bunch of large ground effect transports that fly below the radar, hop over bridges, carry the troops and the cruise missiles all in one go. Maybe not cost effective as it was never used, and has no other real practical use, but still pretty smart.
 
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