[The Cajun]

Wonder how a not quite airplane that can maneuver in 2 dimensions will stand up against real airplanes that can maneuver in three dimensions?

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

It attains level flight near the surface of the Earth, made possible by a cushion of high-pressure air created by the aerodynamic interaction between the wings and the surface known as ground effect.

[spetznaz]

Well, it certainly cannot outmaneuver a real plane, and it is not stealthy. However - let's have another look. It was built for 2 purposes ...carrying troops highspeed, and carrying ASCMs to target ships and/or CMs to target land targets. In the first role ...conventional troop carriers also cannot outmaneuver planes, thus there is no advantage lost there. However, this approach is much faster, and is more or less invincible to submarines (and you never really know where an American submarine could be waiting to give you a MK48 nightmare). On the second role ....carrying supersonic Cruise missiles (be they nuclear land attack variants or anti ship variants). Well, it may seem unstealthy ....but think of what the alternative was. Tu-95 Bears flyinghigh up with a belly of supersonic cruise missiles ...far easier to target than a similar size 'plane' ALWAYS flying a maximum of 100 feet above sea level.

It may seem ungainly, but it is really a beautiful design

[Boiler Plate]

When I did work on the LCAC the one thing that really got my attention was the incredible rate of oxidation. If you think keeping a boat in in salt water is a maintenance headache multiply by 100 due to the misting caused by the lift fans.
I would think that these craft would be in same category as the LCAC in terms of maintenance and would bring in to question their availability/reliability.