Pelican was a ground-effect heavy lift aircraft, too. DARPA refused to fund any Pelican developmental work 20 years ago because the “Technology has been demonstrated already” (by the Russians).
I had the privilege of working for the people who did the concept of operations work.
There's the mention of "sustained flight at mid-altitudes". Perhaps the intention is for this to be able to fly over land as well? Maybe by sacrificing some cargo capacity in mid-altitude flights?
