Surface Forces: The Fastest Thing On Water With A Machine-Gun

Archives

September 11, 2009: A British firm has developed a high speed patrol boat, built to overtake the fastest things currently on water. The XSR is basically a aerodynamically shaped speed boat that can make over 150 kilometers an hour. There are two versions. One is 14.6 meters (45 feet) long, and has a top speed of 120 kilometers an hour. The 19 meter (59 foot) one can hit 150 kilometers an hour. The smaller version has a crew of four, and space for 14 passengers. The larger one has a crew of seven, four bunks and can carry 26 passengers. The larger boat can travel 1,800 kilometers (at a cruise speed of about 90 kilometers an hour), and carry sufficient water and fuel for 48 hours at sea per sortie. Both versions have a toilet, small galley and a .50 caliber (12.7mm) machine-gun that is normally inside the hull. But when deployed, this machine-gun is controlled remotely from within the cabin, using night vision and a laser range finder to assist firing the weapon). A rear deck enables crew to use other weapons as well. The topside structure contains Kevlar, to provide protection from small arms fire. In all, the XSR can carry about a ton of weapons and half a ton of other stores. The XSR 14 costs about $2.2 million. The XSR 19 costs about half a million dollars more.

The XSR 14 has a civilian counterpart, sold as a luxury power boat. A hot rod of the sea for someone who can afford to spend nearly three million dollars on a high seas hotrod. And if they could, the boat can't outrun 12.7mm bullets.

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   contribute   Close