Wow, seriously wow.














Abandoned Ekranoplan in Kaspiysk, Dagestan, Russia

This is a gorgeous photo display of this massive and one of a kind seaplane, built by Russia to destroy enemy ships.

From Wikipedia:

The Lun-class (harrier) ekranoplan was a seaplane designed by Rostislav Evgenievich Alexeev and used by the Soviet and Russian navies from 1987 to sometime in the late 1990s...Lun was one of the largest seaplanes ever built, with a length of 73 m (240 ft).

The only aircraft of this type ever built, the MD-160, entered service with the Black Sea Fleet in 1987. Eight Kuznetsov NK-87 turbofans were mounted on forward canards, and each produced 127.4 kN (28,600 lbf) thrust. She had a flying boat hull with a large deflecting plate at the bottom to provide a "step" for takeoff.

The aircraft was equipped for anti-surface warfare, and it carried the P-270 Moskit (Mosquito) guided missile. It was equipped with six missile launchers, mounted in pairs on the dorsal surface of its fuselage, and its advanced tracking systems mounted in its nose and tail.

Check out the Google Maps image. Stellar.

Always interested, but now super inspired, to seek out the forgotten, or merely hidden in plain sight.