The U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has decided to put its $195 million dollar stealth ship, The Sea Shadow , up for bid at auction. The odd looking military war craft cost more than $195 million to build but the government is only starting the bids at $50,000. In fact you only need to put down $10,000.
The ship gained worldwide attention when it served as the inspiration for the James Bond ship in “Tomorrow Never Dies.”
The General Services Administration auction for the ship will be ending this Thursday evening. Currently the highest bid in only $100,000.
But hold your horses Dr. Evil. You will not be able to go pick up your stealth ship and begin sailing for North Korea. The ship has to be completely dismantled and rendered into scrap metal before the buyer takes possession.
The General Services Administration website has the following in its description of the ship to be bid on,
“The ex-Sea Shadow shall be disposed of by completely dismantling and scrapping within the USA. Dismantling is defined as reducing the property such as it has no value except for its basic material content.”
The 164-foot experimental craft was built in 1983 by Lockheed for the U.S. Navy and its specifications call for the outer skin to contain the same stealth technology used by its more well known flying sisters. Although it appears almost delicate on it’s surface, it actually contains two submerged twin hulls. the Sea Shadow was specifically designed to thrive in extremely rough oceans and withstand waves of up to 18 feet
