158 ft long.
Top speed of over 63 miles an hour.
Crew of 9.
Anti Ship, and Anti Air missiles, plus a deck gun.
Very stealthy.
Half catamaran, half hovercraft.
The ultimate fast attack boat.
I think its awesome!!! The Norwegian Navy has just ordered 5 more of them.
Yah, that thing looks really cool, but its not stealthy at all. Way too many curved surfaces. I really think that stealth will play a huge part in future ship designs. No matter how good a ship is, if it doesnt have stealth, it can easily be picked off by a ship that does have it.
Because the hulls are made out of composites, a safeguard against magnetic mines, the Skjold class are also fairly cheap to build, compared to steel hulled ships of similar size.
It has very light armor, but it goes so fast that Im sure it isnt an issue. Hell, the Falklands War has demonstrated that a single Exocet anti-ship missile can take down a frigate. Not much point in armoring a 150 foot attack boat. Pretty much anything you shoot at it will destroy it if it hits. So the trick is to not get hit.
The design is ingenious… I think its my new favorite ship.