Illustration concept for the US Darpa Liberty Lifer program
Aurora flights
It is not a boat. It is not a plane. It is a flying and skinmine crafts called Ekranoplan.
These large vehicles recalling Soviet Cold War technology are making a return while China and the United States develop modern versions for possible military confrontation in the Pacific.
The giant sea foamers resemble large planes but are “more similar to high-speed naval ships in that they” fly “a few meters above the ocean”, explains Malcolm Davis at Australian Strategic Policy Institute. These vehicles benefit from a phenomenon called “wing in the ground” effect, where an air cushion between the low altitude vehicle and the water below can both support the vehicle and reduce the aerodynamic trail.
These sea foams are generally faster than ships – with speeds comparable to planes – while being able to avoid the detection of radar on the surface or air, explains Davis. They could furtively and quickly deliver goods or troops through the long common ocean distances in the Indo-Pacific region, or possibly launch strikes of surprised anti-ship missiles on the opposing marines, he said.
Technology first acquired notoriety during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union experienced its Ekranoplan design, including a prototype nicknamed the “Capsian sea monster”. But they have never completely taken off due to a lack of funding and limited utility for Soviet military planners, Davis explains. The current resurgence of the interest in sea foumors occurs while China uses its expansion military power to put pressure on the territorial claims on Taiwan and the Southern China Sea.
China began to develop prototypes of maritime skimmers from the early 2000s, explains Ben Lewis, an independent defense analyst in Washington DC. More recently, in June 2025, images emerged from the Chinese social media showing a large water of water origin with four jet engines mounted on its wings, reported for the first time by analyst Hi Sutton in Naval News. China also recruits specialists in Russian technology who previously worked on Ekranoplan conceptions of the Soviet Union, according to internal Russian intelligence documents obtained by the New York Times.
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) financed the development of a similar seaplane thanks to its Liberty Lifeter program from 2022. But the program ended in June 2025 without building a successful profession. Instead, the agency plans to encourage private companies and the larger American soldiers to assume the task with learned lessons from the Liberty Lifter program.
In addition, the American company Regent Craft has also tested its entirely electric Seaglider version of this technology for commercial use, which has aroused the interest of the body of the United States.
These sea skimpers “can prove to be affordable and reasonable alternatives to more expensive traditional aircraft” as technology and manufacturing techniques are progressing, explains Brendan Mulvaney at the Air Force Aerospace Studies Institute in Alabama. But, “he warned:” They will not be the backbone of a force, and certainly will not survive a modern high intensity fight “. Such foam at sea could also encounter difficulties operating in difficult conditions, which are not uncommon in the Taiwan Strait and other Eastern Asian waters, explains Lewis.
However, sea skimpers could be part of a larger Chinese military strategy to counter the American and allied naval forces that could deploy in support of Taiwan, explains Davis. The United States has responded by stimulating military cooperation with regional allies, such as South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, while seeking to strengthen the territories of the Pacific Island as military bases. The possibility of a conflict for both parties has “really high the need to explore more new capacities” which can provide an “additional advantage”, explains Lewis.
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