(The Russian's were not but,) the Ekranoplan is hypothetically more efficient than boat or plane. Not being in the water radically decreases drag versus a boat

(The Russian's were not but,) the Ekranoplan is hypothetically more efficient than boat or plane. Not being in the water radically decreases drag versus a boat, massively boosting efficiency. Compared to a plane, the wing-in-ground / ground effect radically boosts lift, which can be used to greatly increase efficiency. Takeoff is energy intense, but compared to climbing to 40,000 ft it's nothing. Reducing the need for fixed land infrastructure is another colossal perk. This article here didn't go into lots of details. But there's a lot of write-ups on DARPA's Liberty Lifter ekranoplan program, and efficiency is a key reason for the effort. As well as versatility. See also Boeing's Pelican ULTRA idea. https://www.twz.com/air/liberty-lifter-ekronoplan-demonstrator-aims-to-lift-c-130-sized-payloads https://www.twz.com/air/liberty-lifter-ekronoplan-demonstrat... https://hn.algolia.com/?q=liberty+Lifter https://hn.algolia.com/?q=liberty+Lifter Also see Regent craft, for a smaller electric hydro-foil lifted wing-in-ground ekranoplan style vehicle. https://www.regentcraft.com/ https://www.regentcraft.com/ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36051831 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36051831