DARPA puts out request for flying sub - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

DARPA puts out request for flying sub

A flying submarine, similar to the one in the 1960s television show “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,” might be in the Navy’s future. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is looking for someone to develop such a vessel, which could be used by special operations teams to come ashore undetected.

On the Irwin Allen-produced TV show, which aired from 1964 to 1968, the flying sub was kept in a bay in the belly of a mother sub, the Seaview, and was used for exploration, to transport VIPs to the mother ship and on some operations.

The London Telegraph, which reported the DARPA proposal, described the concept as a James Bond-type vehicle that could operate as a submarine as well as an aircraft. DARPA wants a flying and submersible vehicle that carries eight people, plus equipment, at least 1,150 miles by air, 115 miles on the surface of the sea and 14 miles underwater in eight hours or less, and be able to make a round trip within three days.

Basement tinkerers, get busy — the deadline for submissions is Dec. 1.