TR00PS GET ‘BOND’ JETSKI

ELITE Special Boat Service troops are running secret trials of a James Bondstyle undersea “scooter”.

The machine – similar to one in the 007 films – lets frogmen move faster and further underwater.

The Black Shadow looks like a jetski and is so light a soldier can parachute into battle with it strapped to his body.

It would allow teams from the elite British regiment to be dropped miles from their targets and then approach undetected.

Men from the Russian special forces the Spetznaz are already rumoured to be using the German-made device.

Powered by batteries, and with a top speed of six knots, the Black Shadow can operate at 25 metres deep for up to three hours.

A special pump sucks in water before blasting it out in a jet to move the vehicle forward.

Officers say the equipment offers a stealthy new capability to special forces operations.

A senior source told us: “It is very innovative but we need to look at its endurance in the water.

“It will allow us to mount ‘stand off ’ operations from as much as 20km off JOE HINTON the coast and that is significant. Our divers use a re-breather system to ensure there are no air bubbles on the surface because that’s a classic giveaway.

“We also need to make sure this new vehicle does not create any surface bubbles.”

James Bond’s enemies use a similar device in the 1965 Sean Connery film Thunderball.

The SBS, whose motto is Not By Strength, By Guile, was originally formed in 1940 as a section of the Royal Marines.

It was reorganised as part of the Special Forces Group in 1999.

Members of the unit still wear the Marines’ green beret but now have their own cap badge and recruit from across the armed forces.

The Dorset-based unit, which has more than 200 troops, came to prominence in 1972 when a team parachuted into the Atlantic following a bomb scare on the QE2 passenger liner.

In 2004, the head of Britain’s special forces had to step in to heal a growing rift between the SBS and their Army counterparts the SAS.