The Serna craft will start marine trials in September, a spokesman for the manufacturer, Volga, said. He added that a larger landing craft, Dyugon, will be completed next year as part of a large government-funded program to prop up production and sales.
Volga, a factory set up in 1970 as part of the research institute developing top secret Soviet Ekranoplan (wing-in-ground) technology, has been in a rundown state until recently, the spokesman said, but now produces at least two landing craft for the military, and up to six fast ships for civilian government agencies per year.
The Serna is an air-cavity landing craft carrying up to 45 tons of load up to distance of 600 nautical miles at a speed of 35 knots.
The Dyugon is a larger version of the Serna, carrying up to 50 tons at 50 knots.
The Ekranoplan, known in the West as the Caspian Sea Monster during the Cold War, is a wing-in-ground-effect aircraft using the extra lift of large wings when close to the surface. One such hybrid craft, reaching a speed of 240 knots at a range of 1,000 nautical miles, is believed to have been in use with the Black Sea Fleet until the late 1990s.
