3 comments

[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 17.1 ms ] thread
1st reaction: Woohoo, a new Ekranoplan :D

2nd reaction: Wait, what are they building it for? :(

How well do they perform in open ocean, where you would encounter larger waves than somewhere like the land-locked Caspian Sea?
My understanding is that ekranoplans aren't such a good idea except maybe for high speed short haul.

If slow is ok, use a boat. If going further add more wing, fly higher and faster for less fuel.

As other comments suggest, there is one particular high speed short haul route that could be the motivation.