From the USS Cole attack to the recent scourge of Somali coast piracy, we have witnessed a gradual shift of operational focus from the blue waters to littoral regions. In these constrained and highly populated areas, illegal activities, such as terrorist attacks, drug trades and pirate attempts are persistent problems.
Suncraft has developed a range of littoral fast patrol and interception vessels to help navies and law enforcement agencies fight back against the modern day threats that trouble our waters. These vessels include the MANTA MKII ASD, the PIRANHA ASD and the RAPTOR.
MANTA MKII ASD 17m Fast Patrol / Interceptor Craft (FPIC)
The MANTA MKII ASD belongs to our highly successful series of multipurpose high speed crafts designed according to the award-winning ASD (arrow system design) hull shape. The main mission profiles for this craft are:
- Patrol / escort
- Assault
- Border protection
- Boarding of suspect craft
- Search and rescue
The use of aluminium as building material means that this high speed craft can be easily adapted to special and varied requirements of our customers. The baseline configuration accommodates a crew of six and consists of a fully air conditioned wheelhouse and a six bed cabin complete with sanitary amenities.
The propulsion system consists of twin 1200 hp MAN or MTU diesel engines coupled with surface piercing Arneson drives with Rolla propellers which allows it to achieve top speeds of between 45kn and 50kn depending on adopted configuration. Research is currently underway to design and develop a variant with waterjet propulsion.
PIRANHA ASD 15m Fast Patrol/Interceptor Craft (FPIC)
The PIRANHA ASD is a multipurpose high speed craft designed to the ASD (arrow system design) hull shape. The main mission profiles for this craft are:
- Patrol / escort
- Assault
- Border protection
- Boarding of suspect craft
- Search and rescue
The propulsion system consists of twin 730 Hp MAN or similar diesel engines, coupled with surface piercing drives from MSA, which allows it to achieve top speeds in excess of 40 knots under full load conditions.
The offered configuration accommodates a crew of four and consists of a fully air-conditioned cabin complete with sanitary amenities.
This aluminium hull high speed boat can be easily adapted to meet the unique and varied operational requirements of our customers. To enhance its survivability, ballistic or blast resistant solutions capable of withstanding threat levels up to NIJ STD 0-108.01 Level III (multi-strike 7.62 × 51 M80 ammunition) can be incorporated. Customers can also choose from a variety of armament packages.
RAPTOR 13m Shallow Water Operating Craft (SWOC)
The RAPTOR SWOC is a multipurpose craft designed to comply with the requirements of a shallow water landing craft. It is ideal for operating within inner territorial waters like riverines and estuaries and well suited to sieve out hostile or hidden threats entrenched in supralittoral zones.
The craft’s low draft restrictions and hence its ability to operate in shallow waters is made possible by a hull shape which has reduced deadrise angles and tunnelling to accommodate propulsion shafts extending from the engine room.
The main mission profiles of the craft in its intended areas of operations are:
- Patrol / escort
- Amphibious assault/ landing
- Anti-smuggling/ narcotics/ terrorists
- Search and rescue
The basic configuration comprises of twin MAN diesel engines developing 550Hp each and has a top speed in excess of 35 knots at half load conditions, depending on the final chosen configuration. The basic propulsion is via a surface piercing device from MSA installed over tunnels beneath the hulls in order to reduce the draft of the boat.
The fore part around the centre keel has been reinforced to permit beaching operations and a ramp at the stem extends over the propulsion devices to facilitate the disembarkation of crew. The craft can be manned by a crew of 4 and transports up to six passengers in the foredeck.
The basic configuration comes with weapon plants for two pedestal-mounted 12.7mm machine guns or 40mm automatic grenade launcher located at the fore deck (port and starboard) and a pedestal-mounted 12.7mm (or 7.62mm) machine gun at the aft deck. An optronic director mounted atop the wheelhouse roof allows it to carry out operations both in daylight and night.
To enhance survivability in operations, ballistic or blast resistant solutions capable of withstanding threat levels up to NIJ STD 0-108.01 Level III (multi-strike 7.62 × 51 M80 ammunition) are incorporated at critical areas of the boat. The high bulwark all around the fore part of the boat also gives additional protection to crew manning machine guns as well as passengers.
