Posted on 12/11/2017 8:40:17 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
The Royal Norwegian Navy has been around, in one form or another, for over a millennium. Though once a loose conscription of seafaring coastal communities, the Royal Norwegian Navy has, for the last 200 years, been an organized force responsible for the defense of the Nordic country’s deceptively long coast.
During the Cold War, the Norwegian Navy turned to fast patrol boats armed with guided missiles and torpedoes. Most of these vessels were armed with the “Penguin” anti-ship missile, which had a range of roughly 34 miles and used infra-red homing for deadly precision. Additionally, some of the Norweigan patrol boats were armed with wire-guided heavy torpedoes.
The Skjold-class missile boat can reach speeds of up to 60 knots. (Image from Wikimedia Commons)
In the late 1990s, Cold War patrol boats were retired, but Norway still needed to protect the coast against the Russian threat, as diminished as it was. To do this, they turned to a very fast vessel with some very advanced technology to replace their older vessels.
The Skjold weighs in at 274 tons and carries eight “Kongsberg” Naval Strike Missiles (NSM), along with a 76mm gun and two .50-caliber machine guns. This firepower is comparable to what the United States Navy had on the Pegasus-class hydrofoil missile boats.
Four Skjold-class missile boats in the harbor. (Image from Wikimedia Commons)
Compared to the Penguin, the NSM packs a bigger punch and has a much longer range. The Skjold is capable of reaching speeds of up to 60 knots, leaving the U.S. Littoral Combat Ship in the dust. The vessels also employ stealth technology – making them very difficult to detect.
Norway currently has six of these vessels in service, and while they are very capable, they still are being asked to replace 40 Hauk, Snogg, and Storm-class missile boats. That said, despite the lower numbers, their high speed, powerful missiles, and stealth technology makes them much more likely to survive a fight. Check out the video below for more about this high-tech missile boat:
They should be turned into high speed auto ferries...
Later
And more than the US Navy LCS, break and fix ships.
No such spirit lives in modern Norway.
They are importing Islam at a good pace and are on track to make their capital city minority Norwegian in the foreseeable future.
Parts of Oslo already look like Mogadishu.
The flabby drunk King Harald lisps about how there’s no Norwegian Culture. His trashy children hate their homeland even more, and spout inane PC nonsense whenever they get the chance.
A hull like a bass boat
I would think painting it iceberg white would be more appropriate... g
Nice large deck for partying and you can water ski behind it too.......I want one but not in that color.
kinda like a 21century version of the Nasty boat
aren’t they cute...
More of an LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) than a warship, but I was thinking the same thing — that these Norwegian patrol craft are only missing the “Dragon’s Head” to complete “the Look”.
60 knots? Not in the sea states commonly found around Norway. A short-hull vessel spends all it’s time climbing and descending wave troughs. That’s a rough ride.
I was in Oslo just last month. It is definitely changing for the worse...
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