Norfolk camouflage boat

Skrunda swath

"The first SWATH@A&R-type Patrol Boat worldwide was christened today at Abeking & Rasmussen Shipyard in Lemwerder. Mrs. Nellija Kleinberga, Mayor of the Latvian town Skrunda, dropped the bottle of champagne onto the bow and named the vessel “SKRUNDA”.

“SKRUNDA” is the first vessel of a series of five well proven 25m SWATH@A&R design of Abeking & Rasmussen. In co-operation with Riga Shipyard, the vessels are being built in Riga and Lemwerder.

The new vessels feature a modular mission bay at the fore ship. By fitting appropriate mission payloads, such as a diving module or a MCM module, the capabilities of the vessels can be enhanced flexibly.

The decision for the SWATH concept was made in order to benefit from the extraordinary seaworthiness. Offering calm movements in high seastate, superior to 3 – 4 times larger ships, “SKRUNDA” is still a compact vessel with small machinery, low fuel consumption and a small crew.

This combination offers a high availability at low life-cycle costs. Up to 8 crew can stay for one week at sea even under adverse weather conditions to fulfil the main tasks for the new vessels, Patrol and Surveillance of the territorial waters and in the exclusive economical zone as well as participation in international assignments

Dammen marroc frigate

solar planet

Fast Patrol Boats in Coastal Defense

The growing popularity of the use of boats for hobby, leisure and sport, is accelerating the growth of the fast-boat market and the introduction of faster and more advanced vessels. Such boats, when used by outlaws, pose a serious challenge to law enforcement authorities, and, when deployed by terrorists, can pose a serious threat to national security.

Fast Patrol Boats Requirements and Capabilities

Since coastal security units have to secure the entire coastlines, an important parameter is the cost and size of the fleet. Long meandering shorelines and islands often offer many hideouts for infiltrators and mask them from radar detection. Effective security of such coastal lines and waterways require constant surveillance, by airborne, coastal radars and electro-optical means, and frequent patrols that can re-visit every area frequently, and at the same time, respond to any alert raised by the surveillance elements, under all visibility and sea conditions. On such missions, patrol boats are required to maintain their positions for over 24 hours, depending on the number of boats and the number of sectors under protection. The boats should be designed with minimal draft, to allow operating at the shallow coastal water, and be less confined by reefs.
To facilitate endurance, range and sea-keeping capabilities, medium sized boats (+20m) are frequently used while smaller boats are also utilized for shorter missions. Most patrol boats use conventional aluminum hulls, which ensure long service life, simple and maintenance and repair. Several ship constructors are already offering FPBs made of composite materials. Composites are offering attractive weight and construction saving, which directly contribute to lower cost and higher speed but these materials can also be affected form extended exposure to extreme environmental and physical conditions. Some structures, especially those made of glass fibers also absorb water and become heavier over time. Composites promise a great future for faster and lighter patrol boats, but at present, the limited life-cycle experience with composites hulls have so-far limited the acceptance of such boats to few innovators.
Patrol boats are armed with machine guns, are effective at very short ranges, due to the instability of the platform. Stabilized weapon stations for heavier armament (20-35mm guns) include electro-optical weapons director, they are remotely operated from a dedicated console, which enable the accurate engagement of targets at much longer range, therefore making the weapon effective both for deterrence and engagement of targets. Remote controlled weapons stations  are now offered for 0.5"and 7.62mm machine guns and grenade launchers, and enable accurate engagement of targets from the protected bridge.
Equipped with advanced optical and thermal surveillance systems, patrol boats can detect targets at extended range, especially at night. While the target can be faster than the PB, the patrol boat don't have to outpace its target, but track the target and coordinate the engagement or intercept from a distance, without engaging in a fast chase. They can plan such engagement with interception profile that will enable them to close in faster, and be at the most advantageous position to hit the target, while being protected from incoming fire, if forceful action must be taken. The important factor in such chase is the persistence – the ability of the patrol boat to cruise at maximum speed, and outlast the opponent on long and fast cruises at high sea.
Since missions are long, it is important that the crew will be able to operate fresh and ready during the entire mission, even at high sea condition, while the opponents, sailing on smaller boats, will suffer much more. The boats also have to be large enough to accommodate, detain and interrogate the crew and passengers of the intercepted target. It should also be capable of towing at least small boats.

Coast Guard Requirements

In order to deal with such threats, which became even more threatening after 9/11, law enforcement organizations draw a clear distinction between "outlaws" engaged in illegal fishing, smuggling and illegal immigration, "and "security threats", which usually include insertion and support of land based activities of guerillas and terrorists, insertion and extraction of intelligence agents and special forces, as well as offensive activities (mining and sabotage of ports and waterways, and attacks on marine and naval units). The distinction is important not only for mission classification, but also to employ different rules of engagement, which dictate different mission profiles, and may require specific characteristics and equipment of the patrol boats, coastal support elements etc. Furthermore, smugglers usually use small, commercial speedboats for the trafficking illegal goods, drugs or passengers. They rarely use firearms when intercepted, and try to outrun the interceptors in the open sea or in rugged coastal area, where heavier patrol boats cannot maneuver freely. These targets can be easily overcome by patrol boats, if they are caught, but since smugglers have access to faster and lighter boats, such interception must be carried out by several boats, that can block the target's evasion routs. Firearms are rarely used in such incidents.
In contrast, terrorists try to disguise their moves as innocent traffic, either fishing, sports or merchant shipping. They pose a serious threat to civilians, as well as strategic targets at sea or near the coastline. They may also target the military assets such as naval vessels or the patrol crafts themselves. These targets should be identified, based on intelligence and other characteristics, as early as possible. In order to prevent terrorists from carrying out operations from the sea, they must be hunted down at long distance from any potential target, including patrol crafts themselves. As the case with every hunting activity, it is important to bring all the advantages to the side of the interceptor – long range detection and identification, at all visibility conditions, situation assessment (is the target armed? How many are on board?).
Coastal security and counter-terrorist operations differ from conventional coast guard activities, especially in the use-of-force dimension. However, since such activities are performed in a routine and peaceful environment, security forces must be able to employ effective but very precise firepower, in order to avoid casualties and collateral damage. The use of advanced sensors, stabilized weapons, and non-lethal means provide more flexibility levels for security forces, to handle potential targets in most operational conditions.