In Ben Rich's book, he gives a couple of examples. First, one with a proposal for a design of a stealth submarine, and then second, another example of an actua

In Ben Rich's book, he gives a couple of examples. First, one with a proposal for a design of a stealth submarine, and then second, another example of an actual prototype of a stealth ship that underwent a year of testing (in which it performed admirably) before being rejected. Here's a telling excerpt from the submarine adventure: > That submarine captain epitomized the hidebound Navy at its worst. He frowned at my drawing and backhanded my concept. "We don't build submarines that look like that." He admitted that our test results were "interesting" but added, "Your design would probably cost us two or three knots in speed." I countered, "But why care about losing three knots, when you are invisible to your enemy?" > > He ignored me. "This looks more like the _Monitor_ or the _Merrimac_ from the Civil War," he said. "We'd never build a modern submarine that looked like _that_." [1] Then there was the full-scale testing of a stealth ship in which nightly tests were made with the Navy trying to detect the prototype with radar, and virtually always failing. Eventually the Navy decided not to go ahead, on the grounds that they couldn't keep it secret. Rich also speculated on motivations: > A future commander resented having only a four-man crew to boss around on a ship that was so secret that the Navy could not even admit it existed. Our stealth ship might be able to blast out of the sky a sizeable Soviet attack force, but in terms of an officer's future status and promotion prospects, it was about as glamorous as commanding a tugboat. [2] [1] p272-273, Skunk Works by Ben Rich [2] p278, Skunk Works by Ben Rich