USCG Defender class boat

The USCG Defender class boat, also called response boat-small (RB-S), is a standard boat introduced by the United States Coast Guard in July 2003. The Coast Guard plans to replace a mixture of older boats with up to 700 Defender class vessels. The boats serves a variety of missions, including search and rescue, port security and constabulary duties.cite web | url = http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/comrel/factfile/Factcards/Defenderclass.htm | title = Defender Class Response Boats | publisher = United States Coast Guard | accessdate = November 11 | accessyear = 2006]

The boats are 25 feet (7.6 meters) in length and have a draft of less than 1 meter (3 ft). Powered by twin Convert|225|hp|kW|0|abbr=on Honda outboard motors, they are capable of speeds in excess of convert|40|kn|km/h|0 and have a range of 105 or convert|125|nmi|km|0, depending on the type of fuel tanks used. The boat can launch with a two-person crew, but has a carrying capacity for 10 persons. The boat can be transported by a C-130 Hercules aircraft or a boat trailer. It can mount an M60 or M240 machine gun in the bow.

Although superficially similar to a rigid-hulled inflatable boat, the Defender is actually an aluminum hulled vessel, equipped with a hard foam-filled floatation collar. The boats are built by "SAFE Boats International" of Port Orchard, Washington, a vendor of government and law enforcement boats. [cite web | url = http://www.safeboats.com/default/home.html | title = SAFE Boats International | publisher = SAFE Boats International LLC | accessdate = November 11 | accessyear = 2006] [cite web | url = https://www.gsaadvantage.gov/advgsa/advantage/search/search.do?contract=GS-07F-0038H | title = GSA Sales page for SAFE Boats International | publisher = United States Government | accessdate = April 18 | accessyear = 2008]

ee also

*Equipment of the United States Coast Guard
*Response boat-medium

References