Star Wars has inspired us all and keeps doing so, the recent example being this vehicle that resembles the X-Wing fighter from the sci-fi movie. It has been named as the Ghost and the cost to build one is $ 10 million. The ship has been designed to fly over the water on its legs and to deliver marines to the battlefield. It has been invented by a medical tech millionaire who resides in Maine and Navy is already looking into purchasing this ship (or aircraft if you will).
Gregory Sancoff is the medical tech millionaire who designed the ship himself and spent a good $15 million during the development and building of this prototype at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine. The main cabin measures 38 feet and rests on top of a pair of 12 foot tall struts that prop the cabin above the water just like a hydrofoil when moving with speed.
These struts are able to swivel at their respective bases and hence can be lowered or raised based upon the level of water while being sharp at the leading edge to cut their way through any submerged debris. There are 4 propellers that have been built at the front of the tubes and are provided power by the 2 x 2,000 hp engines. These propellers pull the Ghost and by funneling air down the struts create supercavitation that reduces the drag by a factor of 900.
In words of Sancoff; ‘It is such a smooth ride that you can sit there and drink your coffee, going through six-foot swells.’
If the Ghost passes the upcoming speed tests, The Pentagon will be purchasing this $10 million craft. Sancoff speculates that his craft could become an ‘attack helicopter of the sea’. The Ghost has been built from aluminum and stainless steel and has no radar signature hence rendering it invisible to enemy radars.