Search and rescue ekranoplan "Spasatel"

   The "Spasatel" ekranoplan is designed to support search and rescue operations in ocean and sea space at a range of up to 3,000 kilometers with missions to be performed as follows:
-searching and rescuing people from distressed vessels and airplanes as well as people floating in collective survival aids or swimming with individual buoyant apparatus put on;-rescuing submarine sailors leaving independently a sunken submarine;
-rendering skillful medical aid to people survived an accident;
-delivery of rescuing parties, life-saving facilities and emergency outfit to a disaster area, including facilities destined for underwater work;
-extinguishing fires on the sea objects,
-getting vessels off using the tension force of up to 100 tons;
-oil spills fighting during tanker accidents.
Besides, the search-and-rescue ekranoplan is capable to perform:
-delivery of rescue parties and their equipment to damaged off-shore drilling rigs and platforms and evacuation of personnel from these facilities;
-assistance and evacuation of population during natural disasters on the sea coasts.

   Feed of propulsion engines streams under the wing of ekranoplan is used as a starting mechanization.
Shock-absorbing hydroski in combination with a partial feed is used when landing for load dropping and braking.
Configuration corresponds to the ekranoplan-analogy which comprehensive trials have been conducted and which is now in operation.

   Power Plant
Power plant comprises 8 double-curcuit NK-87-type turbo-jet engines accommodated to specific sea conditions.
Maximum static thrust of one engine at "stop" position is 13 tons.

   ABOVE MENTIONED TECHNICAL DATA ARE CONFIRMED BY TRIALS OF THE EKRANOPLAN- ANALOG.

   1.GENERAL ARRANGEMENT
The ekranoplan’s fuselage is divided alongside its length into four functional regions.
The nose part covers rooms and structures ensuring the ekranoplan propulsion. It includes a cockpit to accommodate the aircrew in flight, an engine pylon on which the main engines are mounted and compartments arranged in the pylon area in which the auxiliary engines and power plant systems are accommodated.
Further, up to the middle of fuselage, a hospital is located comprising an operating-room, reanimation room, post -operative room, dressing station, ward for 18 patients and other medical rooms.
The rooms can be rapidly equipped for decontamination of people affected by radiation.
There are rooms for survivors fitted with aircraft-type seats and two-level berths on the area from the middle to the rear-end of fuselage as well as on a platform in the nose part of fuselage.
Berthing auxiliary power plant and airborne avionics provided to maintain navigation, communication and search operation are located in the rear-end part of fuselage and fin.
An observation cabin is placed at an intersection of a vertical fin and tail plane at a height of 16 m above the water level when the ekranoplan is afloat.
An instrumental and visual search is realized from the cabin as well as control of a rescue operation after landing.

   2.DESIGN AND MATERIALS
The ekranoplan airframe is substantially manufactured of aluminum alloys.
Load-bearing units are welded, made of corrosion-resistant aluminium-magnesium alloy 1561. Non-forced constructions are riveted, made of high-strength material K48-2T1ï÷.
Strength of structures is verified by all-round tests of the duplicate fuselage, while specified life of these is checked by tests of the most loaded assembly unit.
Serviceability of such structures in sea-water conditions has been confirmed by a 25 – year operation experience of different ekranoplans based on water area.

   3.EQUIPMENT
Rescue equipment consists of three or more inflatable rubber lifeboats with outboard motors operating at sea up to Sea State 6. Lifeboats can be unfolded on the ekranoplan wing panel within 5 minutes.
To take victims on board the ekranoplan, the rubber inflatable appliances shown on the figure are used. On conducting a rescue operation they are arranged in the aft part of a wing where a quiet place closed from waves by the wing and fuselage turns out when the ekranoplan is drifting.
Searching equipment consists of optical, television and infra-red searching aids; two radar stations one of which has a high resolution; radar and communications direction finders; powerful searching lights, etc.
Ekranoplan is fitted with the automatized navigation complex which keeps the reckoning both by the data obtained from self – contained Doppler or inertial means and by way of continuous observation with using the data of radio-engineering stations or navigation satellites.
Radio communication is maintained by the automated radio-communication complex functioning over microwaves, metric and short waves as well as by the satellite communication.
The equipment meets International standards requirements.
Medical equipment allows to perform surgical operations, reanimation, dressing and other kinds of first aid.

   4.BASING
To provide the departure at sea in the shortest time, the search-and-rescue ekranoplan is based on water in a displacement position alongside stationary or floating fact ties of special configuration.
Specially with that end in view, there is developed a floating ekranoplan pontoon pier of 16170 project alongside which two ekranoplans can be simultaneously based.
The 18530 cruciform floating dry dock must be included into the composition of base facilities to carry out the schedule maintenance work on ekranoplan’s fuselage underwater part.
Ekranoplans must be based in bays or harbours. The requirements to ekranoplans' basing in bays or harbours do not differ from those claimed to vessels’ basing. Small draught of ekranoplans as compared to that of the most of sea vessels permits to use comparatively shallow waters with minimum depth of 3.5-4 meters in port harbours.
The start and landing of ekranoplans are carried out in outer roads or in the sea.

   5.APPLICATION MODEL
A preflight trained ekranoplan on-duty supplied with power from shore is on the alert at a pier with actuated gyros and flying crew in the cabin.
On receiving the order a flight dispatcher sounds the alarm and depending on the nature of accident he nominates a rescue party, assigns a mission and gives instructions on departure of ekranoplan at sea.
Ekranoplan taxis out to hydrodrome, takes off and flies to the emergency place. Being underway, it cooperates with the flight dispatcher and reciprocal ships, aircrafts and helicopters.
Ekranoplan flying at a height of 150 - 300 meters searches for an emergency object and conducts after-search in the disaster area. If the object is founded the ekranoplan lands leaving it exposed to the windward side.
After landing the ekranoplan second-in-command controls the rescue operation from an observation station.
Where the mission is to rescue people from sunken vessels the rubber life-saving boats are deployed and launched from the wing panel, which is not flooded with waves. People are picked up by boats and delivered to ekranoplan. Then, the rescued people are taken on the ekranoplan wing by means of a pneumatic embarkation device to arrange them in rooms, rendering the first aid, including operations and reanimation.
Where the mission is to evacuate people from a damaged object the life-saving boats deliver pneumatic embarkation devices to it. The rescued people are taken on boats via pneumatic embarkation devices to deliver them to ekranoplan.
Where the mission is breakdown elimination, regarding partial flooding or fires or other damages the crash crew and inflatable containers fitted with the necessary equipment are delivered to a damaged vessel by means of life-saving boats.
Where the mission is to rescue submariners leaving a sunken submarine they are delivered to ekranoplan as mentioned above and are accommodated in portable individual pressure chambers in which they are delivered on shore for the subsequent decompression.
Where the mission is to extinguish fires a fire-extinguishing method is used which applies powerful jets of the ekranoplan jet engines operating in the PAR mode. In so doing, a powerful water cloud is formed aft the ekranoplan. This fire-extinguishing method can be used both when ekranoplan is passing the object in fire in the displacement mode or when it is at standstill and its afterpart is fastened to the object in fire by a rope.
Heaving a vessel off is accomplished in a conventional way using an artificial-fibre cable and by operating the main engines at full thrust.
The off-shore drilling rigs being damaged, the application models are similar to those described above.
The use of ekranoplan during the natural disasters on the shore to render assistance and evacuate people is similar to its use in case of accidents and fires on ships.
Besides the abovementioned rescue gear, ekranoplan can deliver on its fuselage to a disaster area:
-6 closed motor boats of total capacity 180-200 persons;
-autonomous underwater device and pressure chamber for rescuing submarine crews.

   6.MODIFICATIONS AND DELIVERY DATE
Passenger variant of ekranoplan for 400-500 passengers can be built by request of a customer.
First squadron of search-and-rescue ekranoplans consisting of two units with support infrastructure can be delivered on the expiry of three years since the contract has been signed.