The bad news is that the team behind this incredible invention are very much the military type, with the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force all involved in its production. This means that instead of a cool name like The Stingray Diver, or Tornado Turtle, it’s called VICTA 02, and rather than being designed to impress hot dates, its role is to be ‘the world’s first operational surface-submersible, capable of delivering operators to their target mission ready.’ Which sounds a teeny bit dull. We haven’t been onboard but there’s every chance they haven’t even put in a beer fridge. That said, this thing is still pretty damn cool.
Powered by a 725bhp diesel engine and Konseberg water jets, the Tornado Turtle, sorry, VICTA 02 can shoot across the water at 40 knots and cruise along under water at 8 knots. The steering has more in common with a plane than a boat, with roll and pitch controls driving forward and aft hydroplanes. Breathing underwater has always been a struggle, but the VICTA 02 has enough air to give its passengers four hours of air, and the control interface tells the pilot how everyone is doing, so you won’t drown.
Why do you need this machine you ask? Well obviously, you’re out fishing and you catch a sweet Marlin and then suddenly, disaster! You drop your phone. Don’t worry, batten down the hatches and it’s ‘Dive! Dive! Dive!’ to pick it up from the ocean floor. Then back to the surface for champagne and sex. Or, if you work for these guys, it’s “to deliver a team of Special Forces operators up to 250 nautical miles on the surface and transitioning to the subsurface mode 12 nautical miles from the target area, it can deliver the team close to their operating area using personal rebreathers for the final infiltration to ultimately deliver land effect.” Riiiiight. To the Tornado Turtle!
See it in all its glory here: https://subseacraft.com/victa/