Free Republic

Iran has outwitted U.S. and British efforts to keep it from acquiring a superfast powerboat that could be loaded with high explosives and used in a suicidal attack against one of the huge U.S. aircraft carriers deployed to the Persian Gulf. Unidentified intelligence sources quoted in published reports say Tehran's Islamic regime managed to acquire the Bradstone Challenger, a 15-metre-long craft designed especially for sustained high speeds, early last year. While naval analysts differ over whether a serious threat exists from so-called swarm attacks by such fast small boats against larger, less-manoeuvrable warships, fears that the rulers in Tehran wanted...

SYDNEY — A space-age powerboat sent to harass Japanese whalers was rammed and sliced in two in its very first clash on Wednesday, activists said, dramatically escalating hostilities in icy Antarctic seas. The futuristic Ady Gil trimaran, which holds the round-the-world record and was enlisted by militant activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for this whaling season, received "catastrophic damage" and was sinking, they said. All six crew, who earlier hurled stink bombs at the whalers to disrupt their annual hunt, were rescued unharmed by Sea Shepherd's Bob Barker ship. Activists described the attack as unprovoked and said it...

It is called the Python, and its makers claim it is the fastest amphibious vehicle ever sold. It can hit 60mph on the waves - quicker than many speedboats - but is said to be equally at home on the road. All the driver has to do before leaving dry land is put the gears into neutral, engage the jet drive, then push a button to raise the wheels. The Python is powered on land by a V8 engine from a Chevrolet Corvette, which produces 640 horsepower and enables the 3,800lb machine to reach 100mph. On water, thrust is provided...