7016 1/144 Ekranoplan A-90 Orlyonok

The A-90 Orlyonok is a ground effect vehicle designed in the Design Bereau of Rostislav Alexeev, designer of the famous passenger hydrofoil highspeed ships Raketa, Meteor and others. Orlyonok was intended to air drop forces with a range of 1,500 km range and a speed up to 500 km/h. With a speed like an aircraft, the Ekranoplan has ship-like carrying capacity. The front end of the Orlyonok can open sideways and take on board up to 200 fully equipped marines or two armored vehicles (tanks, APC or IFV). A-90 is not affected by sea mines and other obstructions because it flies several meters above water level or other relatively flat surface and can land on a beach. Three such ground effect units were built, the first of them entered service with the Soviet Naval Aviation in 1977.