Bartini Beriev VVA-14
This clever Soviet-era plane was a vertical take-off and landing amphibious aircraft, but it was also so much more than a simple seaplane. The Bartini Beriev VVA-14 Vertikal`no-Vzletayuschaya Amphibia employed a wing-in-ground-effect and could haul massive payloads. Designed as a high-performance, long endurance transport that could launch from water and cruise at high speed over long distances, it could also skim just above the sea surface and take advantage of aerodynamic ground effects. The VVA-14 was designed by Italian-born designer Robert Bartini in answer to a perceived requirement to destroy the United States Navy Polaris missile submarines, but only a few were ever made