autoevolution
 

The Cobra Project Is a Mad Max-Style Superyacht With Recycled Jumbo Jet Engines

One of the industries hardest hit by the ongoing health crisis, which started in 2020, was the aviation industry. Travel restrictions and closed borders grounded and eventually led to the decommission of countless passenger jet airplanes.
Cobra Project is a military-inspired superyacht powered by jumbo jet engines, with custom tender and helicopter 5 photos
Photo: Uros Pavasovic Design
Cobra Project is a military-inspired superyacht powered by jumbo jet engines, with custom tender and helicopterCobra Project is a military-inspired superyacht powered by jumbo jet engines, with custom tender and helicopterCobra Project is a military-inspired superyacht powered by jumbo jet engines, with custom tender and helicopterCobra Project is a military-inspired superyacht powered by jumbo jet engines, with custom tender and helicopter
Once queens of the skies, jumbo jets are now crowding junkyards or, at best, waiting for things to pick up again. Should the worst come to happen, here’s one way to give this negative situation a more positive spin: put those jumbo jet engines into a superyacht.

The idea borders on fantasy, of course, but designer Uros Pavasovic of Uros Pavasovic Design notes that it’s doable. The Cobra Project, a Mad Max-style superyacht, would use jet engines, giving them a second shot at life and gaining incredible power instead.

Cobra Project is a concept released in April 2021, on the occasion of the Studio’s one-year anniversary. It doesn’t aim to showcase future trends or tendencies in naval design, nor to imagine what the future might bring. Instead, it’s a pure exercise of the imagination, grounded in reality and with a strong foothold in the future. Because it could definitely be done, Pavasovic told CNN at the time.

Cobra Project is a military\-inspired superyacht powered by jumbo jet engines, with custom tender and helicopter
Photo: Uros Pavasovic Design

“News of all those discarded airplanes and their perfectly functioning jet engines made me wonder how they could be re-purposed in a Mad Max-inspired, post-pandemic world,”
he said. “It might look like science fiction, but it's not total fantasy. The only unreal element is that those engines would be loud!”

Cobra is a military-inspired 427-foot (130-meter) superyacht that uses jumbo jet engines for hybrid propulsion: the 15,000-hp engines would serve as powerplants, powering electric generators. To mitigate the issue of noise, they would be contained in a sound-insulated engine room in the hull. Of course, the designer says, that would bring the hypothetical cost of such a hypothetical vessel into the hundreds of millions, but at least construction time would be relatively short.

The Cobra is Mad Max-like in appearance, too, not just in the way it repurposes jet engines. The forward superstructure, for instance, bears a close resemblance to the streamlined canopy on fighter jets. The Lockheed SR-7 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft inspired the structure.

While it looks mean and competent enough to withstand whatever post-apocalyptic scenario a creative mind might conceptualize, the Cobra would be, at its very heart, a superyacht. That is to say, much like today’s superyacht explorers, it would be tough on the outside and incredibly luxurious on the inside.

Cobra Project is a military\-inspired superyacht powered by jumbo jet engines, with custom tender and helicopter
Photo: Uros Pavasovic Design
Since this is very much an exercise of the imagination, Pavasovic did not get into details. He did say, though, that it would have its own pool on the main deck, a large beach club with swim platform, plenty of areas for guests to socialize, dine and entertain themselves, and a tender garage with folding platforms. A touch-and-go helipad would also be included, as would a custom helicopter that can land on water.

Speaking of custom, Cobra would come with its own mini Cobra, a tender made to match the mothership. Here, too, the military influences abound: Pavasovic cites the infamous Russian Caspian Sea Monster or Ekranoplan, a ground-effect vehicle (GEV) that could glide above the water. The 25-foot (7.62-meter) Cobra tender borrows from it in design and functionality, offering to whisk away five guests at breakneck speeds.

Unlike many other yacht designers, Pavasovic did not create the Cobra Project hoping that some multi-millionaire might come along to commission it. That said, if he or she did come along, he would have to brace for a four-year wait and an expenditure in the “hundreds of millions of dollars.” That would presumably include the mini Cobra, but not the helicopter capable of landing on water.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories