Riverine buy - smart

I am so fully engorged that I will quote in full from this.

SAFE Boats International, a U.S. based boat manufacturer, has been contracted to provide a new asset to the United States Navy’s Riverine force. The vessel, designated as the Riverine Command Boat (RCB), is a 49-ft. diesel/jet platform with reconfiguration capabilities that will allow the Navy to convert the vessel’s mission with minimal changes to the base design.

Originally designed by Sweden’s FMV and produced by long time Swedish boat builder, Dockstavarvet, the vessel will now be built in the U.S. by SBI under license from FMV & Dockstavarvet. The boat will be used as a Command and Control platform for the Navy’s Riverine force. Outfitted with the latest in C4ISR equipment, the RCB will have the ability to communicate with other vessels, aircraft and land based assets. The SeaFLIR III IR system and Furuno Navigation package allows for night operations, long range tracking and integration of the navigational equipment.

The RCB weapons capability includes provisions for four individual .50 caliber mounts and a centrally located mount for a stabilized remote control weapons station (ROSAM) with a 360 degree arc of fire. The RCB also has the ability carry and deploy mines and has already been tested and certified to increase fire up to, but not limited to, Hellfire missiles and a gyro-stabilized twin-barrel 12-cm mortar. The twin Scania DI16 850 hp diesel engines coupled to Rolls Royce FF410 waterjets will allow the RCB to run in excess of 40 knots.

Yep - this will work. From the baseline Swedish product.

The CB90 is constructed of aluminum and designed to operate as a fast attack boat, patrol boat and special operations support vessel. Heavy machine guns are mounted in fixed installations, or stabilized and remotely controlled from a monitor in the wheelhouse. The boat can also carry mines or Hellfire missiles, and a gyro-stabilized twin-barrel 12-cm mortar. The innovative drop bow system allows for easy troop deployment or the rapid extraction of injured personnel.

CB90 Spec List

LOA (w/ transom platform): 49'

Beam: 12' 5"

Capacity:21 troops (up to 30 possible) and 4 crew

Propulsion: Twin Diesel Engines with twin Rolls-Royce Kamewa FF-410
Waterjets capable of operating on JP-5, JP-8 and marine diesel #2

Speed: (@ Combat Load) Up to 40 Kts cruise / 45 Kts sprint

Draft: 36"

Range: Greater than 320 nm

Optional Armor Protection : Up-to 7.62 Nato Ball

If you like, you can see the CB90 in this 2 minutes of play Swedish War Pr0n (which, BTW, has some mildly disturbing lyrics in the last 35 seconds or so).



Here is the higher brain work for you. We have a short fuse need for a design that the domestics cannot come up with inside the money/time death spiral. We have good answers already overseas. We license build.

Mmmmmmm. LCS, DDG-1000 black hole and "holy crap - we need frigates to do anti-piracy" fix? Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, and Norway for starters all have good designs, ready for a shipyard at the right price. Just a thought....

Hat tip Eagle1 and proper copyright to LT Black for the first line paraphrase.