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.