The K-class ekranoplan (serial number: 03) was a fictional former-Soviet ground effect vehicle (GEV) owned and operated by Russian oligarch, Stefan Pomerov. Practically identical to the real-world Lun-class ekranoplan, the craft appeared in the 2010 video-game James Bond 007: Blood Stone.
Game appearance[]
Similar to its real-world counterpart, the Lun, the K-class ekranoplan was powered with eight Kuznetsov NK-87 turbofans, mounted on forward canards, each producing 28,660 lbs of thrust[1]. It had a flying boat hull with a large deflecting plate at the bottom to provide a "step" for takeoff. It had a maximum cruising speed of 341 miles per hour (549 km/h).[1] Six guided missile launchers were mounted in pairs on the dorsal surface of its fuselage with a rear-facing tail turret. Pursued by James Bond and Nicole Hunter, Pomerov attempts to flee Siberia with his biological weapons. At an unidentified port the toxins are loaded onto an ekranoplan that takes off along the river with Pomerov inside. Using a boarded assault hovercraft, Bond damages the craft and boards it. After fighting quickly through the cabin while braving the release of toxic fumes from the cargo, Bond reaches the cockpit, where the fumes become much deadlier and kills a gas mask-wearing Pomerov by shooting the emergency exit, sucking him out of the plane along with all toxic fumes filling the cabin. With the air clear to breathe safely, Bond then orders the pilot at gunpoint to land the ekranoplan and turn it over to Captain Alexi and Russian Federation troops to clean out all remaining toxic material.
In the Nintendo DS version of Blood Stone, the ekranoplan functions more like a seaplane and is first seen docked and ready to fly when Bond chases Pomerov aboard on foot, with the former managing to board the ekranoplan just as it takes off. It has no visible armaments of any kind. Pomerov attempts to use the ekranoplan to make good his escape with his cargo of bioweapons, which remain intact and do not leak fumes to pose any danger to anyone aboard. However, after Bond guns down all but two of his henchmen and storms his way to the cockpit, he decides to crash it at the Siberian coast as a last desperate resort to kill Bond if he and his henchmen are unable to gun him down. M advises that Bond only has two minutes to defeat Pomerov and take control of the vehicle, which he successfully does within that timeframe. With Pomerov and the two henchmen killed, Bond then sets the craft to crash land into a remote area from a high altitude to dispose of the bioweapons, before parachuting to safety. The Russian Federation troops then clean out any remaining traces of the destroyed bioweapons at the crash site while Bond speaks with Hunter and M to continue his mission.
Behind the scenes[]
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