Then you should have looked at bit closer, and you might have discovered the 'Ekranoplanes'. They were essentially Soviet Navy missile destroyers, but moving a lot faster burning a lot more fuel.



The trick about WIG aircraft is, that you need less wing to generate the necessary lift as you're flying in the ground effect, and that wing is able to carry an obscene amount of weight. On the other hand, your fuel burn is astronomical as you're ploughing your way through the thick air near the surface.