GHOST…US Military Meets Sci-Fi!

Posted by Mike | Jan 20, 2012 | Comment

If you combined a stealth jet fighter and an attack helicopter and stuck them in the water, what would you get? Well, according to the folks at New Hampshire’s Juliet Marine Systems (JMS), you’d get their GHOST marine platform. Privately developed for possible use by the U.S. Navy, the boat would reportedly be invisible to enemy ships’ radar, while also being faster and more economical than existing military vessels. The company’s big claim, however, is that GHOST is the world’s first super-cavitating watercraft.

The US Navy has lifted its secrecy orders on images of Ghost, the first super-cavitating stealth craft developed by Juliet Marine Systems (JMS). Ghost is a combination of aircraft and boat that has been designed to fly through an artificial underwater gaseous environment that creates 900 times less hull friction than water. The Ghost technology adapts to manned or unmanned, surface or submerged applications.

Navy having Ghost technology can operate in international waters undetected and would have an overwhelming advantage against conventional ships. Ghost is specifically designed for fleet force protection at its present size. Ghost technology is scalable and JMS is currently discussing a plan to build a larger Corvette-sized vessel (150 feet) by partnering with an international defense company. The US Navy could reduce its naval footprint and financial exposure by deploying a squadron of Ghosts from Bahrain, which would free up larger assets, such as destroyers and cruisers, saving costs in manpower and maintenance. Ghost is ideal for piracy patrols and could be sea-based to provide protection from pirate attacks. The world-wide shipping industry could be provided with substantial fuel savings using JMS hull friction reduction super-cavitation.

Posted by Mike | This entry was posted on Friday, January 20th, 2012 at 6:22 pm. It is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.