The KM (Korabl Maket) (Russian: Корабль-Макет, literally "Ship-maquette" or "Model-Ship"), known colloquially as the Caspian Sea Monster, was an experimental

ground effect vehicle A ground-effect vehicle (GEV), also called a wing-in-ground-effect (WIG), ground-effect craft, wingship, flarecraft or ekranoplan (russian: экранопла́н – "screenglider"), is a vehicle that is able to move over the surface by gainin ...

developed in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in the 1960s by the

Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau Alekseyev Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau (russian: Конструкторское бюро Алексеева) is a company based in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia. It was named after Rostislav Alexeyev. This design bureau has been designing hydrofoil ...

. The KM began operation in 1966, and was continuously tested by the Soviet Navy until 1980 when it crashed into the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

. The KM was the largest and heaviest aircraft in the world from 1966 to 1988, and its surprise discovery by the United States and the subsequent attempts to determine its purpose became a distinctive event of

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

Design and development

The KM was an

experimental aircraft An experimental aircraft is an aircraft intended for testing new aerospace technologies and design concepts. The term ''research aircraft'' or ''testbed aircraft'', by contrast, generally denotes aircraft modified to perform scientific studies, ...

developed from 1964 to 1966, during a time when the

saw interest in

s—airplane-like vehicles that use ground effect to fly several meters above surfaces, primarily bodies of water (such as the Caspian Sea). It was designed at the

, by the chief designer

Rostislav Alexeyev Rostislav Evgenievich Alexeyev (russian: Ростисла́в Евге́ньевич Алексе́ев; December 18, 1916 – February 9, 1980) was a Russian Soviet Director & Chief of Design known for his pioneering work on hydrofoil ships and ...

and the lead engineer V. Efimov, and manufactured at the Red Sormovo plant in Gorky (now

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

).National Research Council Committee to Perform a Technology Assessment Focused on Logistics Support Requirements for Future Army Combat Systems; ''Reducing the Logistics Burden for the Army After Next'', 1999, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, p. 68 The KM was among the earliest major ''ekranoplan'' (English: "screen effect") projects and was notable for its massive size and payload, becoming the largest aircraft in the world when it was completed in 1966. The KM had a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

of ; a length of ; a

maximum take-off weight The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to takeoff, take off, due to structural or other limits. The a ...

of 544 metric tonnes; and was designed to fly at an

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

of to use the ground effect. The KM was also undetectable to many

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

systems, as it flew below the minimum altitude of detection. Despite technically being an

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

, it was considered by the authorities to be closer to a boat and was assigned to the Soviet Navy, but operated by

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

s of the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

. The KM was documented as a marine vessel and prior to the first flight a bottle of

champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

was broken against its nose, a tradition for the first voyage of a watercraft. Kaspiysk rd 1968

Operational history

On June 22, 1966, the completed KM began transportation along the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

to the testing grounds on the

near the town of

Kaspiysk Kaspiysk (russian: Каспи́йск; lbe, Ккасппи; av, Каспиялъухъ) is a city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea, southeast of Makhachkala. The 2010 Russian census recorded the city as being the f ...

. It was transported from Gorky along the river in secret, covered in

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...

and moving only at night. The aircraft's first flight was on October 16, 1966, performed by Vladimir Loginov and Rostislav Alexeyev himself, which was very unusual as most Soviet aircraft designers never piloted their own creations. All the work was conducted under patronage of the Ministry of Shipbuilding Industry. Testing showed the KM to have an optimum (

fuel efficient Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, wh ...

) cruising speed of 430 km/h (267 mph, 232 knots), and a maximum operational speed of 500 km/h (311 mph, 270 knots). The maximum speed achieved was 650 km/h (404 mph, 350 knots), although some sources claim up to 740 km/h (460 mph, 400 knots). The KM was at first seen as a promising vehicle specialized for use by military and rescue workers but its design caused many difficulties; progress slowed and Alexeyev moved on to other ekranoplan projects. It was tested on the Caspian Sea for 15 years until 1980, when it was destroyed following a crash caused by

pilot error Pilot error generally refers to an Aviation accidents and incidents, accident in which an action or decision made by the Aircraft pilot#Airline, pilot was the cause or a contributing factor that led to the accident, but also includes the pi ...

. There were no human casualties, but the KM was damaged and no attempts were made to save it, it being left to float before eventually sinking a week later. The KM was deemed too heavy to recover and has remained underwater at the crash site ever since, with no plans to build a second ever made. However, the KM later became the basis for the ''Lun''-class ekranoplan developed by the Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau in the 1980s, which saw one example, the ''MD-160'', enter service with the Soviet Navy and later the Russian Navy before being decommissioned in the late 1990s. The KM remained the largest aircraft in the world during the entirety of its existence and is the second-largest aircraft ever built, behind the Antonov An-225 ''Mriya'' that flew for the first time in 1988, eight years after the KM's destruction.

In media

* The 2006 video game ''

Microsoft Flight Simulator X ''Microsoft Flight Simulator X'' (abbreviated as ''FSX'') is a 2006 flight simulation video game originally developed by Aces Game Studio and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to '' Microsoft Flight S ...

'' features the KM in a mission. The Deluxe Edition contains additional missions, one of which also depicts the KM. * Episode 1 of the 2008 series '' James May's Big Ideas'', entitled "Come Fly With Me", features the story of the KM. * The 2007 Japanese animated film '' Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone'' features a version of the KM. * The 2016 PC game ''Soviet Monsters: Ekranoplans'' features several ekranoplans, including the KM.Soviet Monsters: Ekranoplans
/ref> * In the ''

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

continuation novel A continuation novel is a canonical sequel novel with continuity in the style of an established series, produced by a new author after the original author's death. Continuation novels may be official, produced with the permission of the late au ...

''Devil May Care'' published in 2008, the KM is used by the villain for smuggling. * In the '' 007: Blood Stone'' video game the villain also uses an ekranoplan in an effort to escape from James Bond, but the latter gets onboard and throws the villain off the vehicle, killing him. Later the ekranoplan can be seen docked and cleaned.

Specifications (KM)

References

External links