The Soviet-Era Hurricane High-Speed Missile Boat Had Absolutely Gargantuan Hydrofoils
Known in the Soviet Union as the Project 1240 Uragan, meaning hurricane, and given the Western codename Sarancha class, only one example of this hydrofoil missile boat was ever built, but it certainly packed a punch and was in many ways a remarkable design from a technical point of view. With enormous hydrofoil surfaces on either side at the front, and another at the rear mounting propellers, the Uragan could race across the surface of the water at an impressive 60-plus knots.
The torpedo attack craft of the early Cold War years had been supplemented by coastal craft armed with anti-ship missiles by the 1960s, with the Soviet Union pioneering much of this effort. It was Soviet-made Komar class missile boats that sank the Israeli destroyer Eilat in 1967, bringing these types of high-speed attack craft to greater prominence.
In a quest to further increase the performance of missile craft, work began on mating anti-ship missiles with hydrofoil designs, the hulls of which lift out of the water as they increase speed, decreasing drag as they are carried on wing-like surfaces. As well as boosting speed, it also typically improves fuel economy and can improve stability, even in rougher sea states. During the Cold War, the concept was not always a total success, but it certainly produced some interesting designs along the way.
