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Fisheye lens view of the EKIP (Ekologiya i Progres — Ecology and Progress) vehicle developed by Professor Lev Nikolaevich Schukin and Alexander Sobko. EKIP unusual airframes with Saratov Aviation. NAVAIR would not expand on the reasons why this promising design had been dropped. Conceivably, there were engineering difficul- ties, or perhaps political considerations, that led to this decision. The future of EKIP is uncertain and, while there could be fresh interest in Russia or China, the situation does not look very encouraging. As a military craft, EKIP might have been ideal for rapid-reaction military special operations, with the potential to replace large helicopters and some armoured vehicles. Relatively stealthy and able to transport more troops than a Chinook, an EKIP equipped with exotic directed energy weapons, and perhaps an electro- magnetic railgun, might have created a small revolution on the battlefield. Of course, this assumes that the propulsion system could be made to work! some 11 The EKIP test vehicle at the Saratov Aviation facility during the Mid-1990s. EKIP A proposed passenger-carrying version of the EKIP vehicle. EKIP Russian Flying Discs: Myth and Reality