Author(s)

E. A. Aframeev & Y. Yoshida

Abstract

The authors present an effective rescue system in the future for a ship in distress etc within second generation WIG’s cruising radius 3000–4000 km, using international satellite communications. 50 WIGs will be arranged on 12–13 bases for global rescue works. Each base has 3 or 4 WIGs. One or two WIGs start from a base after picking up signals for help. The WIG, having 750 ton in weight, 95 m × 85 m in length and width, 400–450 km/hour in cruising speed, 70 ton in payload, and appendages such as 1 helicopter, 3 motorboats, 1 tugboat for oil barrage, 10 rescue rafts, 1 bathyscaphe, is designed as a large catamaran. The design is based on many experiment and field test data up to 550 ton in weight called \“KM type” on Russian Federation’s national project. The WIG will take off and land on up to 3.5–4.0 m in wave height (hump to hollow), which enable us to use it about 95 % of a year time on open sea. The system will work for not only rescues but also police activities. The WIG is an advanced flying boat that flies ultralow altitude utilizing wing-in-ground effect, which is also called \“ekranoplane”. Keywords: WIG, ekranoplane, flying boat, wing-in-ground effect, global rescue system, sea disaster.

Keywords

WIG, ekranoplane, flying boat, wing-in-ground effect, global rescue system, sea disaster