Secret Stealth Boat!

This is, what appears to be a secret navy stealth boat, I have never seen this before...have any of you?





It has an obvious stealth look to it, and it was spotted at the radar testing range of the Navy Research Lab at Chesapeake Beach. Has a very low look, windows in front only, and i'd assume it uses water jets instead of propellars, for propulsion, and its color helps to camoflauge it with the water quit well, and the only way to get in and out is the top hatch.

More Pics

Who owns this boat...and whats its purpose, who built it???
What do ya think?

[edit on 26-6-2005 by Murcielago]

Some sort of SEAL boat maybe. It looks like a stealthier version of the boat the SEAL teams use now for patrolling. It looks too small to be anything else. It would probably have to be some sort of SpecOps patrol boat.


Here's the current boat....

community.webshots.com...

I mean hey, if the SEAL teams get THIS, why not a stealth boat.....
www.fas.org...

From the look of it I'd say it was some persons project, meaning it was just some normal person who built it.

Originally posted by iori_komei
From the look of it I'd say it was some persons project, meaning it was just some normal person who built it.

I agree. While I'm still trying to figure out exactly what they were trying to accomplish when they built it, there are several tipoffs that its a civilian craft. The first is what appears to be exhaust smoke rising from the back. The first generation of stealth ships are being designed so that the exhaust exits underwater to help reduce the heat signature. It certainly appears that the exhaust here is exiting through the vent in the back.

Additionally, the rear panel of the ship gives it away at least three times as being civilian. The first is that rear vent I mentioned. If it were stealth, even that small gap in the hull would increase its radar signature by a considerable amount. The second are the mooring rope attachments. Unless they retract, and admittedly its possible, they also will increase the radar signature. But finally, and the most obvious of all that gives near 100% proof that this thing is civilian are the two rivets visible at the top of that rear panel, as well as a visible crease where the upper hull meets the rear panel. Neither would be there if it were a military stealth craft as again, they increase the radar signature.

It would definitely be an interesting thing to see, but I'm pretty confident that its a civilian craft.

Another big tip off that it is civillian made that in my opinion is a dead giveaway is its location and the people on and around it, non of them look like they work for any naval program and the area looks to naurie and underdeveloped.

If it is a military project why is there civillians wearing in civillian's cloth working on it? There should be Camo dudes working on it.

Originally posted by iori_komei
Another big tip off that it is civillian made that in my opinion is a dead giveaway is its location and the people on and around it, non of them look like they work for any naval program and the area looks to naurie and underdeveloped.

Not necessarily. They probably wouldn't be regular military if they were testing a new craft and if they were forced to test in view of the public (granted, I don't know why they would be), they'd probably drop many of the standard military protocols such as uniform in order to make it as mundane and ordinary as possible. A small town would also be a great place to conduct such a public test as there would be minimal witnesses. Additionally, they could also be civilian defense contractors assisting with testing. Of course, this all assumes that there would be a good reason to test in view of the public, and I can't think of one.

That said, again, I'm pretty sure that this one is completely civilian.

Looks like a James Bond prop for a movie, lol. But yeah, it looks like a boat that someone has just made and then coloured grey in their backyard.

hmmmmmmmmmmm...Yeah, theres always a possibility that its private.


It looks like it has a back door/ramp on it...what for?

and whats that "half of a circle" thing on the top of it?

It appears it has some markings on the back but I cant really read it.

and I doubt those are rivets on the back...I would guess lights.

and if it is private...i'm still really curious who owns this beast.

The writing seems to look like "71880301". Although I could be mistaken.

I guess I was the only one to read the stuff on the original site.

June 20, 2005
Stealth boat comes into dock

The Stealth Boat I saw earlier today called it a day after doing a series of profiles for the Navy lab and headed back to the Navy pier in town today. It eventually came to rest next to a 74 foot landing craft so I think my original guess of 150 was a bit high.

As you can see, it has a pretty low profile. It is made of metal (thunk sound when they dropped something on it) and is a catamaran as far as I could tell. It's still out there tonight, but hidden by the LCM so most people don't notice it.

The Landing Craft next to it shields it from the public view (sort of). Looks like this might be an early development project.

Idea: Maybe this is a new idea for a smaller squad supported sub. Maybe it has some tanks inside that can be flooded. Go in underwater, surface, release seals, and submerge again.

EDIT: www.penguinsix.com...

I think he sums it up pretty well there.

[edit on 26-6-2005 by TheJeSta]

I'm still leaning towards it being US Navy.

TheJeSta
Idea: Maybe this is a new idea for a smaller squad supported sub. Maybe it has some tanks inside that can be flooded. Go in underwater, surface, release seals, and submerge again.

I dont think they would spend so much money to make it stealth if it could act as a sub. I doubt it goes underwater...i'm sure the top hatch is water-tight though for the large waves that crash into it wont get inside.

I think its a special ops boat...Navy seals. Probably undergoing some tests. and i'm assuming the "half a circle" at the top is its radar.

Usually civilian boats that have the military look to them, still have various features that make it seam civilian...like a lot of windows.

Heres The 118 WallyPower(one of my favs), its all civilian, and has a stealthy look to it...however its not stealth, and it does have a lot of windows...after all, the rich people out there who have a passion for cool looking boats still want to see outside.
Wally



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However this new secret stealth boat doesn't have windows all over it, or chairs on its top, or even a deck for that matter.. It has a navy feel to it.



Some speculation is that its a 1/5th scale for the LCS (Littoral Combat Ship), the Lockheed Martin LCS has the classical pyramid look, meaning smallest in the front and back, while the middle is its high point...however this craft is more like half a pyramid. So I dissagree with that.
Here's the Lockheed Martin LCS


I think its the next-gen spec ops boat.
Heres a picture of what I think the boat most resmbles...and no suprise...its Navy Seals.

Why isn't it just a boat that has been covered with a 'shell' to keep its form secret? Car companies, amoung others, do this all the time.

Well it is designed to be stealthy so i guess it probably is used for that purpose.

Originally posted by Nygdan
Why isn't it just a boat that has been covered with a 'shell' to keep its form secret? Car companies, amoung others, do this all the time.

???are you kidding?
With cars you just bolt on different bumbers and hood and it looks different...you cant do that with boats.

What? Since when? Since when can't the military do that with their boats to keep their ultimate designs secret?

Originally posted by Nygdan
What? Since when? Since when can't the military do that with their boats to keep their ultimate designs secret?

show some pics, or give some links, of ships having there real identity masked.

Originally posted by vor78

Originally posted by iori_komei
Another big tip off that it is civillian made that in my opinion is a dead giveaway is its location and the people on and around it, non of them look like they work for any naval program and the area looks to naurie and underdeveloped.

Not necessarily. They probably wouldn't be regular military if they were testing a new craft and if they were forced to test in view of the public (granted, I don't know why they would be), they'd probably drop many of the standard military protocols such as uniform in order to make it as mundane and ordinary as possible. A small town would also be a great place to conduct such a public test as there would be minimal witnesses. Additionally, they could also be civilian defense contractors assisting with testing. Of course, this all assumes that there would be a good reason to test in view of the public, and I can't think of one.

That said, again, I'm pretty sure that this one is completely civilian.

Sorry, I don't see the navy testing their next-gen stealth boat at a little dock a hundred feet from the local Citgo.

i saw that stealth boat thing you posted at rudee inlet which isnt far from where you said. i was wondering why it was there but its a huge navy are around here. anyways funny it sohuld be posted considering i had a sighting of it to.

Why wouldn't they test it in the open. They tested the Sea Shadow in San Fransisco Bay in broad daylight. You HAVE to do some daylight testing which is going to require being in an area where SOMEONE is going to see. It's not AS important to keep security if this is a specops boat since it's small, and most of the external features can be retracted into the hull. I saw a pic of the hot new South African developed next gen destroyer sitting docked in a public harbor, and several other countries testing in wide open bays. And they're already ahead of our DD(X) program. They're using next gen technology for stealth ships when we're still having problems developing systems for ours.

[edit on 28-6-2005 by Zaphod58]

Its called SEALION, which means SEAL Insertion, Observation and Neutralization. Its a technology demonstrator. There working on building a SEALION II.
SEALION

The technologies under review would have applications to a number of programs within Naval Surface Warfare and USSOCOM. Bosworth explained, “There are several things we want to examine in this project. One is seakeeping. In other words, the ability of a fast planning craft to be in rough seas and not harm the occupants. Second, there is a degree of wave piercing that occurs due to the low, sharp bow; this also helps with seakeeping. Third, we were also examining enclosing the personnel aboard. Some of the current craft have open operating stations and there are potential benefits to the warfighters in being on the boat for a long time and being enclosed—they should be better prepared to perform their mission. We are also examining overall size—in particular we kept the craft sized so that it could be loaded onto a C-17. We are going to look at what capabilities we would gain by relieving the C-17 size restriction and making the craft a bit larger. And finally, we are looking at modularity.”

Because of their familiarity with small craft operations, Navy Special Warfare Group 4 is putting SEALION through limited operational evaluation trials. The craft continues to undergo various testing to fully assess each of its technical aspects.

“SEALION 2 is in the midst of design and the program is assembling materials. The program has funding to build a second craft and we will start construction this year,” said Bosworth. SEALION 2 is expected to test specific technologies such as antennas and radars.