Hoping for Military Edge, China Eyes Russia’s Ground-Effect Technology

The Chinese regime is making progress on an experimental type of flying vessel first developed by the former Soviet Union and is also using its intelligence services to acquire this technology, as well as other military-technical expertise, from Russia, according to experts.

Ground-effect vehicles, also known as wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) aircraft or by the Russian term “ekranoplan,” straddle the boundary between ships and airplanes. By flying just a few yards above ground level, they take advantage of the so-called ground effect to generate tremendous lift and float across level surfaces such as open sea.

Offering the potential for transporting vast quantities of troops, weaponry, or supplies at high speeds, ekranoplans could augment the growing strength of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the event of a maritime conflict, such as in the South China Sea or an invasion of Taiwan.

For the PLA Navy, the ekranoplan may seem like an attractive choice, offering the potential for rapid, relatively stealthy transport across long distances over water. The Chinese regime has a growing military presence in the disputed South China Sea and its regional islands, some of which have been artificially enlarged to accommodate more installations and personnel.

“Maintaining permanent military forces on China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea requires constant resupply,” Mark Space, an overseas Chinese commentator on Chinese and Taiwanese military affairs, told The Epoch Times. While in times of peace, replenishing these islands by transport ship is a simple matter, and “in the event of war, ships would be slow and easy targets,” said the commentator, who runs a Chinese-language YouTube channel.

“Ground-effect vehicles don’t need long runways, and theoretically, their payload capacity could exceed that of standard aircraft,” Space said. “That’s why China has been exploring faster and stealthier methods of transporting supplies, personnel, and equipment, leading them to consider ground-effect vehicles.”

China has already been working on ambitious seaplane projects, including the AG-600, a four-engine flying boat the size of an airliner, which appeared in 2016.

The Epoch Times could not independently verify the authenticity of the photos.

One of China’s early attempts at a WIG craft, its CYG-11 seaplane, was derided by Russian observers as being little more than a twice-as-expensive copy of an old Soviet design, as reported in 2015 by online Chinese outlet Sina Military News.

But sometime in 2023 or 2024, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) allegedly produced a report warning about Chinese spying, as reported by The New York Times on June 7.

The FSB’s eight-page report—which NY Times said it obtained from the hacker group Ares Leaks and was corroborated by multiple Western intelligence organizations as being likely a genuine document—mentions Beijing’s keen interest in acquiring Russia’s aviation technology.

Chinese methods include seeking out military pilots, researchers, and industrial workers knowledgeable about flight control systems and fields, such as aerohydrodynamics and aeroelasticity.

“Priority recruitment [of Russians by the CCP] is given to former employees of aircraft factories and research institutes, as well as current employees who are dissatisfied with the closure of the ekranoplan development program by the Russian Ministry of Defense or who are experiencing financial difficulties,” the FSB document reads, as translated by NY Times from the original Russian text.

Soviet developments began in the decades following World War II under the Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau. Numerous prototypes were created, though few models entered serial production.

Because even the slightest change in terrain could be hazardous, ekranoplans were limited to traveling exclusively over calm water. The Soviet Union mainly tested and deployed its ekranoplans in the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest lake.

Most Soviet ekranoplans, including the missile-armed Lun-class machine built in 1987, were restricted to flying within a few feet above the ground. One prototype, informally dubbed the “Caspian Sea Monster,” was the heaviest aircraft in the world when it was built in 1966, weighing more than half a million pounds and measuring 300 feet in length.

Due to their extremely low altitude skimming across water, WIG aircraft are difficult to detect using radar. They can also take off and land on the water itself like seaplanes, removing the need for runways.

Such an aircraft could be useful in “providing logistical support to remote areas and especially in recovering downed aircrew and other personnel. Even sea control and anti-submarine warfare applications are real possibilities,” it said.

However, the technology presents significant challenges, and whether it will ultimately prove viable remains to be seen.

The War Zone notes visual similarities between the Chinese WIG aircraft and the now-canceled American Liberty Lifter ground-effect vehicle project, which was initially slated to make its first flight in 2028.

The Liberty Lifter, a program exploring the ground-effect for large-payload maritime aircraft, was abruptly canceled by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency earlier this month. The agency did not give a reason for the program’s end.

“Typically, when the U.S. chooses not to develop a certain technology, it’s because the path is either not feasible or extremely difficult to implement,” Zhou Ziding, a Chinese military affairs commentator, told The Epoch Times.

Mark Space noted that “based on Soviet-era experimentation, these vehicles are extremely sensitive to sea conditions,“ and that ”they are almost unusable in rough waters,” pointing to the crashes and frustrations the Soviet developers encountered even in the comparatively calm waters of the Caspian.

Zhou added that “unlike the relatively calm Caspian or Black Seas where the Soviets tested their craft, the Taiwan Strait experiences very high waves, often reaching 6 to 8 meters [about 20 to 26 feet].”

The CCP considers Taiwan, a democratically governed island of 23 million people, a part of its territory and has not renounced the use of force to bring about what it calls “reunification” with communist China.

However, the waters of the Taiwan Strait are choppy and difficult to navigate for many months of the year, a major factor that the PLA forces would have to consider in any invasion attempt.

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