Russia develops saucer-shaped aircraft with a load of 1500 tons (Figure)

　　The military prospect of saucer-shaped aircraft is attractive

　　　　Although the relevant Russian reports so far have not explained the reasons why the Russian military is interested, people are convinced that the aircraft will be used by the military in the future.

　　　　As we all know, the early attempts to develop saucer-shaped aircraft began in the early days of aviation development. As early as 1911, American inventors made umbrella-shaped aircraft. In the 1940s, especially during World War II, the research and development of saucer-shaped aircraft was supported by the US military, and Germany was the one that made small achievements in this field at that time. In 1950s, Britain, Canada, the former Soviet Union and the United States used the technology obtained from German experts at the end of World War II to set off the research and development climax of military flying saucers. For decades, aviation powers such as Russia and the United States have never given up the research on "flying saucer", because compared with ordinary fixed-wing aircraft, saucer-shaped aircraft has many unique properties, such as: small aspect ratio and small wave resistance, suitable for high-speed flight; Suitable for using ground effect, easy to realize vertical take-off and landing; It can quickly point to the attack target without hovering maneuver, and this feature will undoubtedly change the basic concept of air combat tactics.

　　How far is Russia from the real "flying saucer"

　　　　Through years of unremitting research, Russia has made great progress in the field of saucer-shaped aircraft and is expected to create a real "flying saucer." As early as the 1980s, the famous Russian flying saucer designer Hugh King successfully launched the saucer-shaped aircraft scheme named "Ekipi". For more than 20 years, Russia has successively introduced various civil and military modifications of the "Ekipi" program, including civilian unmanned flying saucers, fire fighting flying saucers, passenger flying saucers that can carry 2,000 passengers, and military flying saucers that can be used for anti-submarine, patrol and force and weapon delivery, and completed the production and testing of various scale models and individual full-scale prototypes. In 1993, the Russian government decided to provide budget funds for the "Ekipi" project, and the Russian Ministry of Defense and other departments also supported the mass production of an "Ekipi" flying saucer with a take-off weight of 9 tons. However, due to insufficient funds, mass production has not been realized. The successful research and development of "Ekipi" series of flying saucers has aroused great interest in the United States. At the beginning of this century, the United States reached an agreement with saratov Aircraft Factory, the main contractor of "Ekipi" facing financial difficulties, to jointly promote the "Ekipi" flying saucer project, but the implementation situation is still unclear.

　　　　As for this "flying saucer" newly launched by Russian experts, this giant aircraft should have a very broad military application prospect in the long run. If it is used for military transportation, the carrying capacity of 1,500 tons will make it a super strategic delivery platform. However, the scheme is still in the scale model test stage, and there is no doubt that there is still a long way to go compared with the mature and fully tested "Ekipi" UFO project.

　　　　Core Tip: At present, Russian experts are developing a flying saucer-like aircraft, which is said to have attracted the attention of the Russian military. Compared with ordinary fixed-wing aircraft, dish-shaped aircraft has many unique properties, such as small aspect ratio and wave drag, which are suitable for high-speed flight; You don’t need to do hovering maneuvers, and you can quickly point to the target.

Editor: Wei Yu