LIKE “SEA HUMVEES,” BUT BETTER
From an article By Kelsey D. Atherton, Popular Science, posted Jan 14th, 2016
On Tuesday, January 12, the American public first learned that Iran was holding 10 American sailors and two small, riverine boats. This is a story about those boats.
The sailors were on a pair of Riverine Command Boats, first introduced into the United States Navy in 2007. For reference, they’re similar in concept to the Swift Boats used in Vietnam and popularized in the film “Apocalypse Now”.
During the Iraq war, Naval riverine units patrolled the waters of Basra in southern Iraq. The actual boats are 49 feet long, 12 feet wide, and have a top speed of nearly 50 mph. They have a range of almost 370 miles. They also include six mounts for weapons: one of them remotely controlled, one controlled from the boat’s cockpit, and the others operated by crew. These are for smaller weapons — think machine guns and grenade launchers, not anti-ship cannons.
In 2007, when the Navy first ordered them, they cost about $860,000 apiece. While it only needs a crew of four to operate, the vessel has room for 22 people total, making it an ideal way to transport marines or other units upstream and into unexpected shores.