Self-made millionaire Gregory Sancoff has spent a decade and $19 million building a highly unusual stealth boat. Called Ghost, it’s designed to be faster, more stable, and more fuel-efficient than anything currently in the U.S. Navy’s fleet, he says. “It’s such a smooth ride, you can sit there and drink your coffee going through six-foot swells,” he proudly told Bloomberg Businessweek in 2014.
But there’s a problem: The Pentagon doesn’t want Sancoff’s boat—and also won’t let him sell it abroad.
Last year, Sancoff was served government secrecy orders, which means he's not permitted to show his patents and technology to anyone. Since then, his Portsmouth, N.H.-based startup, Juliet Marine Systems Inc., has had to lay off 17 of its 20 employees, and Sancoff sued the government to recoup damages. “We’ve fallen into a very weird place,” he says. “If the U.S. doesn't want this, fine. But why not let us sell to friendly nations? We’ve had so much interest from countries like Japan, Korea, Qatar.”
The Navy and the U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment.
Video of the craft in question at the link.[excerpted]
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-19/the-feds-won-t-buy-this-19-million-stealth-boat-or-let-it-be-sold-abroadThe DoD and USG should not be viewed as a Uncle Sugar for private development, but at the same time, should not be able to stop privately developed technology from being developed and sold either. Btw...COOL boat!
