is stored adjacent to the Volga river in an old industrial complex within the central Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod. The Lun design had several drawbacks. One was that although the ground effect enabled it to fly at low altitude, in order to utilize the effect it had to fly as low as off the water due to its short wingspan, so it could not fly when seas were even mildly rough. Another was that the craft was only designed to use the ground effect principle, so it could not ascend to higher cruising altitudes. The requirement for calm seas to operate and inability to fly above them if they weren't greatly limited where it was able to deploy. 2020 towing operation On 31 July 2020, the completed MD-160 Lun-class ekranoplan was towed out of the naval base in Kaspiysk, with the intention of being eventually put on public display in Derbent, Dagestan, at the planned Patriot Park, a combination museum and theme park that will display Soviet and Russian military equipment. The towing operation involved the use of rubber pontoons, three tugboats and two escort vessels, and would have covered approximately had it been completed. However, during the tow the ekranoplan became stuck just offshore of a sandy beach, short of the intended destination. The team managing the towing operation was unable to free the massive vehicle, so the ekranoplan was secured and remained beached in the surf zone while plans were drawn up on how to continue the move to Patriot Park. In the meantime, the unusual craft began attracting attention from the media, onlookers, and trespassing "urban explorers", even before the park was built. One report published in August 2020 stated that the hull, exposed to the waves in the surf zone, was taking on water. Moving the craft to dry land beyond the surf zone would eliminate the possibility that increased wave action during storms could damage the hull further. In December 2020 a successful recovery operation resulted in the ekranoplan being hauled out of the water, nose-first, with the tail ending up about from the sea, as seen from satellite imagery. The ekranoplan was towed ashore on 30 December 2021. Former operators Soviet Navy Specifications Related development Caspian Sea Monster (KM) Spasatel A-050 А-300-538 References External links (1m0s) (2m5s, silent) Satellite view after Lun was successfully pulled ashore via Yandex Maps Wired article with image