US for Bond-like flying submarine for forces

London, Oct. 23: The US military has launched a competition to find a design for a flying submarine, a week before the release of the latest James Bond film. Bond drove a submersible Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me and villain Scaram- anga drove a flying AMC Matador coupé in The Man With The Golden Gun but the US group is looking for a vehicle that can do both, the Telegraph reported.

The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), based in Arlington, Virginia, wants a flying submarine to help small teams of special forces to approach coastlines undetected. The agency said that it wants the craft in order to "maintain its tactical advantage for future coastal insertion missions".

DARPA, which was set up in 1958 as a response to the surprise launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik and is credited with the invention of the Internet, intends to spend billions developing the most promising design.

"DARPA has a budget of $3 billion," said spok- esperson Jan Walker. "We issue these requests for submissions on a regular basis and we welcome ideas from anybody," Ms Walker added.

The competition specifies that the flying sub must be able to transport eight men and their equipment 1,150 miles by air, 115 miles by sea or 14 miles underwater, or a combination of the three.

—ANI