TWO Swedish fast attack craft have been loaned to the Royal Marines as the Navy looks at patrol boats of the future.
The first two of four Combat Boat 90s have been handed over to 1 Assault Group Royal Marines for several months of intensive trials.
The Royal Navy is looking at acquiring a new class of ‘force protection craft’ capable of fending off enemy fast boats and dealing with threats on land. As a secondary requirement, the future boats will be expected to carry up to eight Royal Marines ashore during amphibious operations.
The CB90’s been in service with Swedish and half a dozen other navies since the early 90s (hence the craft’s name) and can carry up to 21 troops at speeds of around 40kts (46mph) – as well as mount machine-guns and grenade launchers.
There’s nothing similar in the current RN or RM inventory, so the Royals are borrowing the Swedish craft to see what they can do and to incorporate what they learn into the design of the future fast boats.
Experts from RM Instow will test fast navigation, force protection, working with assault ships and carrying commandos with the Swedish boats; in return the Royals are lending the Swedes some Offshore Raiding Craft – hence Col Ola Truedsson, head of Swedish 1st Marine Regiment proclaiming the loan “a win-win situation for both countries”.
The CB90s, which have been adapted so they can be operated from the davits of assault ships, will undergo around 12 months of trials with the green berets.
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