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Phaeton Missions
Sea Shadow in hangar, photo by Phaeton Group


MISSION PERSONNEL:

Dr. David West Reynolds, Ph.D
Principal Investigator

Alex Ivanov
Lead Photographer

John Goodson
Model Specialist

Gordon Danielson
Pilot

MISSION DATE:

09-2003


Phaeton Group Boards the Navy's Radar-Invisble Stealth Vessel



For this mission the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington D.C. afforded a Phaeton team special access to the Sea Shadow, a sea-going counterpart to the F-117A Nighthawk. Both are "stealth" vehicles, with special shapes that give them a highly reduced radar signature, and both vehicles were conceived by the famous Skunk Works of Lockheed. Common origin and shared geometry design principles give the ship and the plane a strong family resemblance, with distinctive triangular chines and flat surfaces. The F-117A has been a dramatic success story in the Air Force, but Sea Shadow remains a unique prototype with only indirect descendants in the Navy.

The Sea Shadow was constructed in secret in a floating hangar in 1985 and tested covertly. Although built with the capability of carrying a Patriot missile battery, the ship was not intended as a combat vessel prototype but rather as a technology research platform--in part to prove out whether the Sea Shadow could actually deliver the minimal radar signature that Lockheed's designers thought they could achieve. Sea Shadow also tested the submerged catamaran hull design, which gives the ship excellent stability even in very rough waters.

Sea Shadow was revealed to the public when daylight testing began on April 11, 1993, but the vessel rarely showed itself. When Phaeton took an interest, the vessel was lying at San Diego Naval Station, still housed in its special floating hangar. For our mission the Phaeton field team had virtually complete access to the vessel inside and out.

We found the vessel to be quite impressive, both larger and more effective at its role than we had realized. With its history of CIA intrigue, the floating hangar is almost as spectacular as the Sea Shadow itself. Access was not simple to arrange, but the Navy was kind enough to almost double the time we were allotted aboard this very special vessel. We are especially grateful to Maria Zacharias at the US Naval Sea Systems Command office in Washington for coordinating clearance for this project, and we found the Navy throughout to be very supportive of our work despite the fact that the Sea Shadow was still in a tightly controlled status at the time.

The preliminary mission report presents some of the history of the project, recounts some of the details of our boarding, and touches on the controversy that has attended the Sea Shadow since its construction, as well as offering a basic gallery of Alex Ivanov's imagery.

SEA SHADOW PRELIMINARY MISSION REPORT



Phaeton's Special and Experimental Vehicles Program

Special-application vehicles often represent the cutting edge of technology development and innovative thinking. Along with geographic exploration, experimental vehicles are regarded by archaeologist David West Reynolds as useful "index elements" for assessing a culture era. The Sea Shadow mission was part of Phaeton Group's larger Special Vehicles Research Program.



Sea Shadow aerial view
Aerial view

Sea Shadow prow
Angular prow

Sea Shadow cockpit
Bridge


 

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