Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC) assigned to Special Boat Team (SBT) 20 navigate a rigid-hull inflatable boat (RIB) for a scene in the film Act of Valor. SWCC operate and maintain the Navy’s inventory of state-of-the-art, high-speed boats in support of special operations missions worldwide. The venerable 11-meter NSW RIB remains a workhorse.
One CCH asset that is owned by the NSW community is SEALION. “It’s a large boat that recently entered the inventory, and NSW really benefitted from a lot of Navy research, test, development, and evaluation on this craft,” Carlson continued. “It’s about 78 feet long and very unique looking – with a wave-piercing hull.”
Built by Oregon Iron Works, SEALION not only has a very unique hull that can ride smoothly at high speeds, it is also NSW’s only completely enclosed boat for cargo and passengers, providing environmental protection and allowing for the introduction of climate control systems that will facilitate operational deployments around the world. The impressive combination of performance capabilities and human factors benefits has not existed on any previous NSW platform. Naval Special Warfare Command currently has two SEALION craft in inventory. Developed by the Navy, they were “operationalized” for special warfare with supporting development of the requisite tactics, techniques, and procedures, followed by the safety certifications necessary to support a Fielding and Deployment Release (F&DR) in FY 14. Current NSW plans call for the purchase of a third vessel in the FY 17 time frame (for delivery in FY 18).
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