Russia's Ekranoplans: The Caspian Sea Monster and Other Wige Craft

For decades the Soviet Union and now Russia have held leading positions in the development of a special class of vehicles which are neither aircraft nor ships . . . or both at once. Known as wing-in-ground effect (WIGE) craft or by their Russian name of Ekranoplan, these vehicles combined the best of both worlds, operating on the borderline between the sky and the sea, offering the speed of an aircraft coupled with better operating economics and the ability to operate pretty much anywhere on the world's waterways. As such, they promptly attracted the attention of the military and thus have been veiled in secrecy until recently.