In the 1960s and 1970s, the Soviet Union’s Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau developed a series of craft that blurred the lines between aeroplanes and ships.
The ekranoplans, as they were called, were wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) vehicles that flew just above the water.
But other than the A-90 Orlyonok, which saw three units put into limited military transport use, the ekranoplans did not really take off, figuratively speaking.
