Anonymous ID: ba80d5 Oct. 15, 2023, 9:47 a.m. No.19741525   ๐Ÿ—„๏ธ.is ๐Ÿ”—kun

The Airplane That Shouldn't Have Worked

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The Cold War between the US and the USSR gave way to the most impressive technological developments in human history. No stone was left unturned, from nuclear missiles, submarines, and warships to aircraft and spacecraft.

Nevertheless, few were as fascinating and intriguing as the Soviet ekranoplans or screen-gliders, vehicles that move over the surface by gaining support from the reactions of the air against solid ground or water.

Among them stood tall the Soviet Bartini Beriev VVA-14 Vertikaฤพno-Vzletayushchaya Amfibiya or vertical take-off amphibious aircraft envisioned to make the most out of the ground-effect principle and VTOL capabilities.

Nicknamed the Slavic Dragon due to its futuristic shape and imposing size, the aircraftยดs objective was to hunt and destroy American submarines carrying nuclear warheads close to the coastlines of the Soviet Union.

There was no American counterpart to this colossus, providing the Soviets with a unique asset in the arsenal their enemy could not match.