Ekranoplan A bizarre cross between a hovercraft and an airplane, developed during the Cold War. They hover and skim above the water at speeds of up to 250 miles an hour, while carrying heavier loads of cargo and troops than any airplane could - the Ekranoplans, or "Wing-in-Ground" (WIG) vehicles are possibly the most exciting and strange-looking transportation technology ever invented by men.

Developed mostly by the Soviets during the Cold War (by the Rostislav Alexeev design firm), some ekranoplans were over 500 feet in length and had the estimated weight of over 500 tons! Although only one "KM" prototype ship has been built, there were several variations differing in length and weight. All were intimidating in size and pretty weird-looking, designed to specifically use the "wing-in-ground effect" to skim the waves at highest possible speeds, undetected by radar. According to military sources, the Soviet government had plans to built one hundred of these monsters at the height of the Cold War, but then this number fell to twenty four projected machines.