Royal Marines Test CB90 Combat Boat

In a never ending search for excellence the Royal Marines of 11 (Amphibious Trials and Training) Squadron are ‘trialling’ the Swedish CB90 Combat Boat. The high speed boats, designed to protect Royal Navy vessels from fast-attack craft, are being evaluated at the Royal Marines base at Instow in North Devon.

Driven by water jet propulsion units and weighing approximately 16 tonnes the CB90 has a top speed of about 50mph. The vessel is similar in size to the smaller landing craft used by the Royal Marines , can carry up to 18 fully equipped Commandos and mounting heavy machine guns can provide accurate and effective firepower. The manoeuvrability of the CB90 is acknowledged to be outstanding and, because of its unique water jet propulsion system, can literally ‘turn on a sixpence.’


When describing the capabilities of the CB90 Combat Boat the Officer Commanding 11 Squadron RM Craft Trials Wing, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Guyer RM, said:


“There’s no real comparison with what we operate at the moment – it’s a completely different beast. It’s a basic boat, you can really throw it about and it keeps coming back for more. That’s the sort of thing we like.”
To date the trials have tested CB90’s basic handling, operation alongside other landing and assault craft currently in use, safe CASEVAC handling and in the Commando assault role.


It is anticipated that trials will not be completed until the end of 2013 by which time CB90 will have carried out exercises with Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels and ‘worked’ in and out of HMS Bulwark’s dock.

Colour Sergeant Ian Gibbons, a Royal Marine with 13 years of landing craft experience, said that the high speed CB90:

“Is very easy to drive – if you can drive an Offshore Raiding Craft, you can drive one of these”.