The Fast Combat Boats Forward-Deployed by Sweden

[Monthly Defense Times Editor-in-Chief An Seung-beom] Sweden's CB90 is a high-speed combat boat capable of performing combat missions at high speed in complex coastal waters.

The CB90 high-speed combat boat was developed during the Cold War era as a regional response to repel threats approaching through Sweden's long and intricate archipelago coastline. Developed for the Swedish Royal Marines, the CB90 was introduced to rapidly deploy heavily armed marines among thousands of small islands.

It transports a crew of 3 and up to 22 fully armed combat troops for mission execution. Besides conventional warfare, it can perform patrol, reconnaissance, surveillance, rapid strike, special operations, mine laying, and carry a small high-speed boat (IBS). The armament operates a Remote Weapon System (RWS), with five additional weapon mounts available for installing firing equipment, and can also carry heavy weapons such as a 120mm automatic mortar. The hull superstructure is constructed with aluminum welding, but various types of ballistic protection are also equipped.

Operating in shallow and complex coastlines or narrow spaces, it has a maximum displacement of 24.5 tons and can operate in Sea State 5 conditions on the open ocean, with a cruising range of 300 nautical miles. The propulsion system uses two high-speed diesel engines and two twin waterjet propulsors. Each engine is equipped with a reverse gearbox and a waterjet mixing pump.

The waterjets enable speeds exceeding 50 knots at full load, and since there are no propellers, the CB90 can easily land on shallow beaches and riverbanks. The aluminum structure features a bow ramp for troop landings.

The CB90 has logged over 1.5 million hours of maritime operational time, and more than 250 CB90s and derivative models are in service in the United States, Malaysia, Greece, Mexico, Norway, and Sweden.

Due to this demand, several countries including Russia have attempted to develop CB90-class high-speed boats by imitating its design, but it is reported that they have not achieved the same speed and performance.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.