Small boat operations in military and naval warfare refers to operations in and around the
littoral zone
The littoral zone, also called litoral or nearshore, is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely flood ...
, within a certain distance of shore, carried out by small, fast and highly maneuverable craft.
In recent years, research has been conducted into the use of autonomous small boats for use in military contexts.
History
The role of these types of operations has been both offensive and defensive. Conventional navies have used small torpedo craft for hit-and-run type attacks and raids on coastal and shoreline targets as far back as the late 1800s. Prior to the use of modern small boat operations and torpedoes in warfare, large naval vessels were generally used to contain enemy ports without a large risk of sustaining damage from the vessels in port, though the advancement of small boats has changed this calculus. By the 20th century, the use of small boats in coastal operations had become a standard part of naval defense strategies.
Following suicide attacks on warships by terrorists such as in the
Sri Lankan Civil War and the
USS Cole bombing
The USS ''Cole'' bombing was a suicide attack by Al-Qaeda against , a guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy, on 12 October 2000, while it was being refueled in Yemen's Aden harbor.
Seventeen U.S. Navy sailors were killed and thi ...
, navies have adapted specialized craft to maintain port security, patrol coastal and river line areas.
Craft types
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Rigid Raider
The Rigid Raider (RRC) is a series of fast raiding and assault craft made by RTK Marine, a subsidiary of Halmatic, part of BAE Systems Surface Ships. They are primarily in service with two branches of the British Armed Forces: The Royal Navy (i ...
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Arrow boat
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SOC-R boat
Units
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1 Assault Group Royal Marines
47 Commando (Raiding Group) Royal Marines, formerly 1 Assault Group Royal Marines, is one of the commando units of Royal Marines that specialise in air assault operations, amphibious and coastal raiding with commando styles, forward air control, ...
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Rapid Action Boat Squadron
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Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen
See also
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Amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conduc ...
Riverine warfare
References
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