Military use in inland waterways? Cause the water has to be sooth and then, unoccupied. Sea Monster versus commuter ferry. Sea Monster versus trawler. Sea Monster versus row boat/jet ski. So they want to cover long flat unoccupied bodies of water...hmmmm....
“amphibian troops transportation” Hmmmm....doesn’t seem practical. It does mention ballistic missile...so...assuming one is riding up on hostiles, you hope their waterways are clear and calm? For the Black Sea or some other neighbor?
The Soviet Navy ordered 120 Orlyonok-class ekranoplans. ut this figure was later reduced to fewer than thirty vehicles, with planned deployment mainly in the Black Sea and Baltic Sea fleets.A few Orlyonoks served with the Soviet Navy from 1979 to 1992. In 1987, the 400-ton Lun-class ekranoplan was built as a missile launcher.