A Real Gunboat

Austal photo

USN take note: This is not an aircraft carrier, missile cruiser, 14,000 ton Zumwalt destroyer, or amphibious carrier, but a real shallow water warship. The Armidale is built by Austal who gave us those excellent high-speed ferries. Specs are:

• Length-56.8 meters
• Weight-270 tons
• Armament-1x25 mm cannon and 2x12.7 mm machine guns
• Speed is a pirate busting 25 knots!
  

Galrahn adds:

We are starting to wonder if the US Navy should think about buying
30 of them in one big buy, and here is why: They only cost $14 million US, they appear well designed for
sustained maritime security operations in low threat environments, and this is
one way to counter low cost high threat environments with a low cost. highly
capable system.

These would also be an excellent replacement for the 13 overworked and under-appreciated Cyclone class patrol boats built for the USN in the 1990s.