Defense Ministry Consented Ekranoplan Lun to Turn Into Museum

10.04.2012 Four months after official request of Denis Zakharov, initiator of the "Save Missile Carrier" project, to preserve Project 903 ground-effect vehicle (ekranoplan) Lun currently located in Kaspiysk, defense ministry returned an answer. The letter endorsed by Director of Property Relations Department O. Podgornaya says the ekranoplan can be preserved.

Russian Navy's spokesman said in Nov 2011 that the Navy development program did not provide prospects for ekranoplans. "Decommissioned three years ago, Lun will be dismantled in the next few months", he added. Group of activists from Nizhniy Novgorod – native city of ekranoplans – became anxious about fate of the unique vehicle; their leader Denis Zakharov addressed to defense ministry and Nizhniy Novgorod administration with request to consider preservation of the unique "flying ship" as a museum showpiece.

Later on, Mayor of Nizhniy Novgorod Oleg Kondrashov proposed to found an open-air technical museum on the bank of River Volga. However, he meant not the missile-carrying Lun but her "younger sister" – ekranoplan Spasatel staying uncompleted at Volga Shipyard.

According to the defense ministry's reply, decommissioned and demilitarized weapon systems meant for museums and monuments can be only transferred into federal or municipal ownership. Defense ministry consented to hand over Lun to Nizhny Novgorod, but only after official address from the city's administration.