The $195 million Sea Shadow is up for sale. (U.S. Department of Defense)The U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has placed its famous Sea Shadow stealth ship up for auction. And while the high-tech military sea vessel cost more than $195 million to develop, its opening bid was for the relatively tiny sum of $50,000, with only a $10,000 deposit required.
The Courier Mail reports that the ship was made famous to a broader audience when it served as the inspiration for the home of James Bond's villainous foil in the film "Tomorrow Never Dies."
The General Services Administration auction for the ship is scheduled to end this Thursday, with the current bid at the time of publishing up to just over $100,000.
However, before you begin finalizing your plans for global dominance, there is one major catch to the auction: The ship will be dismantled and reduced to scrap before being handed out to the auction's eventual winner.
"The ex-Sea Shadow shall be disposed of by completely dismantling and scrapping within the USA," reads the item's description on the GSA website. "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 first constructed in 1983 by Lockheed for the U.S. Navy and contains the same stealth technology used by its more famous aerial counterparts. Although it appears almost flimsy on the surface, it actually contains two submerged twin hulls and is specifically designed to withstand very rough ocean waves of up to 18 feet.
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