Royal Navy's New SOF Speedboat

The Telegraph is discussing the XSR, a new small boat for Royal Navy SOF.

The British-designed vessel travels at almost 100mph, carries a retractable heavy machine gun and would not look out of place in a 007 film.

With a maximum speed of 85 knots (97mph) and carrying a .50 calibre machine gun hidden under the deck, the boat will be able to overhaul “go-fast” drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and pirate ships off the coast of Somalia.

The vessel is part of a raft of new equipment being shown for the first time at the Defence and Security Exhibition in London.

Hailed as the world’s “most advanced performance and pursuit” vessel the XSR will allow navies to deploy special forces on enemy shores, anti-piracy and smuggling patrols, protecting oil platforms and to intercept unidentified vessels in potential terror attacks.

When the XSR comes within range of an enemy ship the machine gun emerges from the forward hull and is trained on the target using a remote controlled system from the cockpit.

The article goes on to note the cost of around $2.5 million, or £1.5 million. It also notes a larger version that comes with "four bunks, can carry up to 12 additional passengers and has a range of 1,000 nautical miles." That would be impressive.

It is somewhat frustrating to be honest. The US Navy is going to stand up a new Riverine squadron and reuse armored RHIBs, and here we have the British building very impressive small boats that do things like go 100 mph and have endurance up to 1000nm.

I say this because 100mph could be useful in brown water, but something if that fast hits the wrong wave in green water, it will do more than make a splash.