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The Speedboat is a light patrol vessel used by several BLUFOR, REDFOR and INDFOR factions in ArmA 3

Overview[]

  • Roles:
    • Coastguard
    • Special operations transport
« This V shaped boat with two powerful jet impellers excels in speed and maneuverability. It is used by both BLUFOR and OPFOR as a coastline guard boat and for special operations. The speedboat has a front-facing, remote controlled GMG turret. The OPFOR version is commonly equipped with a HMG in the rear, while BLUFOR speedboats are armed with a minigun.
Field Manual
»

Design[]

The Speedboat is a compact, twin-engined boat that uses a V-shaped hull.

Armament
It is fitted with a forward-mounted RCWS turret that is armed with a 40 mm automatic grenade launcher. A auxiliary turret is also fitted to the stern of the boat and varies between either a .50 cal heavy machine gun or 6.5 mm Gatling gun.

Controlled by the boat's commander, this RCWS comes pre-loaded with a twin 96-round grenade belts fitted with high-explosive (HE) warheads.

For the rear turret, the HMG has access to four 100-round belt boxes (400 rounds total) while the Gatling gun variant carries only a single 2,000-round linked belt with no spare reloads available.

Arma3-speedboat-00

NATO minigun-armed Speedboat firing its RCWS GMG.

Features
The Speedboat provides NATO's naval armadas and CSAT special operations units the ability to insert and extract on coastlines, and to patrol/perform maritime interdiction against enemy forces.

Though it is too heavy to be lifted by smaller helicopters such as the WY-55s or the MH-9, Speedboats can still be carried by either the Huron or Mi-290 heavy-lift helicopters.

NATO's Liberty-class destroyers are also capable of storing and deploying Speedboats. They can be lowered/raised from the vessel through the entryways located on both the port and starboard sides of the ship via its internal boat racks.

Mobility
The hull's sleek design enables to it glide through the water with little resistance. It has very good handling and can make sharp turns in the water without needing too much space to manoeuvre.

Drawbacks
It should be noted that the Speedboat relies heavily on both its speed and agility to avoid incoming fire, given that it provides minimal protection for its passengers and crew since it is an open-top boat after all. Prolonged contact against land-based threats should always be avoided unless absolutely necessary, as the Speedboat will not survive for long under heavy fire.

Crew Capacity
Regardless of faction, all variants can transport the same amount of troops and crew. The crew includes the driver, the commander (who doubles as a gunner) and the rear gunner. Up to eight passengers can either sit in the rear and front, or stand up while holding handlebars located on the port and starboard sides of the boat.

Variants[]

Arma3-render-speedboatminigundigital
Used by NATO, the AAF and CTRG special operations units.

The commander's front mounted GMG turret is loaded with twin 96-round grenade belts (total 192 grenades) while the rear gunner has access to a Gatling gun with a single 2,000-round linked belt. Only the rear gunner's turret is fitted with a ballistic-resistant gunshield.

NATO Miniguns fire visible red-coloured tracer bullets, while AAF Miniguns are loaded with yellow-coloured tracers instead. Once depleted, the rear gunner cannot reload the gun unless the Speedboat is rearmed at a logistical vehicle.

This variant has a gross weight of 9002.62 kg.

Arma3-render-speedboathmghex
CSAT exclusive variant.

It is functionally identical to the NATO/AAF variant and shares the same front-mounted GMG turret. The sole difference is that this variant's rear turret utilises a .50 cal heavy machine gun fitted with a gunshield.

The HMG feeds from a single pre-loaded 100-round belt box loaded with visible green tracers. The HMG can be reloaded a total of three times as it retains access to a further three boxes in reserve (for a combined amount of 400 rounds).

This variant has a gross weight of 9016.73 kg.

Camouflage[]

All faction variants have access to the same camouflage options:

  • Dazzle: Two-tone grey dazzle pattern camouflage scheme used by NATO/CTRG forces.
  • Hex: Light/dark grey/tan cell pattern camouflage used by CSAT maritime vessels and divers.
  • Digital Grey: Digitised semi-fractal camouflage pattern used by several other AAF aircraft and boats.

Protection[]

Both Speedboat variants have base armour values of 400.

Hull[]

The actual body of the boat (not the hull plating) can only withstand 80 points of damage. It receives 200% increased damage from high-explosive (HE) type munitions.

Engine[]

The Speedboat's engine can incur up to 240 points of damage before failing. The engine takes only 20% damage from HE-type munitions, though at least 50% of damage is shared with the Speedboat's main "health" pool.

If damaged: Reduces power output, Speedboat(s) can no longer attain top speed even when tidal conditions are steady.
If destroyed: Instantly immobilises the vessel.

Fuel tank[]

The boat's fuel tank can survive 200 points of damage before rupturing. It takes only 60% damage from HE-type munitions, and transfers 30% of that onto the Speedboat's main "health" pool.

If damaged: Loses a maximum of up to 70% of remaining fuel.
If destroyed: All fuel depleted after several seconds.

RCWS[]

The bow-mounted RCWS turret can resist up to 250 points worth of damage. No amount of damage incurred is transferred onto the Speedboat's main "health" pool.

Disabling the turret will prevent the commander from adjusting its rotation, though the grenade launcher itself can still be fired and the camera's vision modes/zoom toggled.

Rear turret[]

The stern-fitted turret (Minigun/HMG) can only survive a meagre 40 points of damage before failing. No damage is shared with the Speedboat's main "health" pool.

Disabling the turret will prevent it from being rotated but does not stop the weapon(s) from being fired by the rear gunner.

Armament[]

The Speedboat's commander controls the bow-mounted turret armed the RCWS GMG 40 mm, while the rear gunner handles either the Minigun 6.5 mm (Minigun variant) or Mk30 HMG .50 (HMG variant).

The rear gunner on the Minigun variants do not possess any optics. Only the commander's RCWS and HMG variant's rear gunner retain optics. They retain variable zoom capability and can toggle day, night or black-/white-hot thermal vision modes:

RCWS GMG 40 mm[]

Arma3-vehicleweapons-speedboat-rcwsgmg40mm
Damage type Base damage value Aerodynamic friction Initial velocity (m/s)
High-Explosive Anti-Tank 100 -0.001 241

40 mm automatic grenade launcher. Fires grenades fitted with high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warheads. They have a blast radius of 4 metres.

It can attain a fire rate of up to approximately ~ 349 rounds per minute. It requires at least 20 seconds to reload a fresh belt of grenades or to fully rearm from a logistics vehicle. Accuracy-wise, the GMG has a dispersion of 0.005 rad.

The turret retains an integrated Fire Control System but can only zero onto stationary targets and requires at least 1 second before it can finish adjusting. Manual zeroing is possible. Adjustments are made with increments/decrements of 100 m up to 400 m. After 400 m, adjustments are made with 200 m increments/decrements instead (600 m, 800 m, 1000 m and lastly, 1200 m).

It should be noted that although manual zeroing is restricted to 1200 m, the FCS is able to adjust this to a maximum of 1500 m instead.

Minigun 6.5 mm[]

Arma3-vehicleweapons-speedboat-minigun65mm

NOTE: Only available on the Speedboat Minigun variant.

Base damage value Aerodynamic friction Initial velocity (m/s) Penetration depth (mm)
10 -0.0009 825 12.375

6.5 mm Gatling gun.

It can attain a fire rate of approximately ~ 1,800 RPM[note 1] and has a muzzle velocity of 825 m/s. For dispersion, it is always fixed at 0.0115 rad regardless of range. It takes 15 seconds to reload a fresh linked belt, assuming that the Speedboat has been depleted and is rearming at a logistics vehicle.

There is no limit to the turret's horizontal rotation. Vertically, it is restricted to a maximum elevation of 60 degrees and depression of just 5 degrees. The Minigun 6.5 mm does not have an integrated FCS but does support manually zeroing. It retains the same non-FCS zeroing limits as the RCWS GMG 40 mm (minimum of 100, maximum of 1200 m).

It should be noted even though the Minigun 6.5 mm's bullets are not explosive tipped, they still inflict splash damage to any unarmoured/light armour targets that are within a 2 metre radius of wherever the bullets impact.[note 2]

Mk30 HMG .50[]

Arma3-vehicleweapons-speedboat-mk30hmg50

NOTE: Only available on the Speedboat HMG variant.

Base damage value Aerodynamic friction Initial velocity (m/s) Penetration depth (mm)
30 -0.00086 910 35.49

General-purpose .50 cal heavy machine gun.

The Mk30 can attain a fire rate of up to 500 RPM and requires 20 seconds to reload a new belt box. Accuracy-wise, it has a fixed dispersion of 0.00096 rad regardless of distance.

The Mk30 has an integrated FCS but is only able to automatically zero on stationary targets (up to a maximum of 2000 m) and requires at least 1 second to finish calculating. Manual zeroing is also possible, though it is far more restrictive compared to the FCS and is limited to a maximum of 1200 m with the same increment/decrement settings as the RCWS GMG.

There is no limit to the turret's horizontal rotation. Vertically, it is restricted to a maximum elevation of 60 degrees and depression of just 5 degrees.

Trivia[]

  • The Speedboat appears to be a futuristic rendition of the real-life "Small Unit Riverine Craft" manufactured by Raytheon Naval & Maritime Integrated Systems.
    • The SURC is primarily utilised by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps as a patrol boat, though it can also act in a fire support capacity for ground forces operating in littoral/riverine environments.
  • Both Speedboat variants strangely lack FFV capability despite all passenger positions being uncovered, and the riders seated with no obstructions on either side of the vessel.
  • Prior to the release of Game Update 1.32, Speedboats that were blown up by missiles or large calibre anti-vehicle munitions would flip hundreds of metres into the air after their destruction.[1]
  • Before Game Update 1.52, the Speedboat's engine noise was obnoxiously loud and would drown out all other sound effects (even those from the Speedboat's weapons).[2]
    • The patch also removed servo sounds from both variants of the Speedboat. Prior to the patch's release, the rear turret shared the same servo SFX used by the commander's RCWS even though they were manually moved by a human.[2]
  • The base armour value for the Speedboat was significantly reduced after Game Update 1.72.[3]

Gallery[]

Notes[]

  1. The Speedboat's Minigun 6.5 mm has a "fake" ROF of 1,800 RPM. In actual gameplay, it only fires one projectile for every three rounds of the belt. Therefore, its true ROF is actually limited to just 600 RPM.
  2. Spill damage caused by bullet impacts from both ammunition types (B_65x39_Minigun_Caseless_Red_splash/B_65x39_Minigun_Caseless_Yellow_splash) is considered to be kinetic.

References[]

  1. van 't Land, J.J. 2014, SPOTREP #00034, Arma 3, viewed 23 September 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00034>.
  2. 2.0 2.1 van 't Land, J.J. 2015, SPOTREP #00048, Arma 3, viewed 23 September 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00048>.
  3. Kovařič, V 2017, SPOTREP #00069, Arma 3, viewed 23 September 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00069>.

External links[]

See also[]

Boats of comparable role and configuration[]

Vehicles of ArmA 3
Wheeled AFV-4 GorgonAMV-7 MarshallHatchbackHEMTTHunterIfritKartMB 4WDMSE-3 MaridOffroadProwlerQilinRhino MGS (UP) • StriderSUVTempestTractorTruckQuadbikeUGV StomperVanZamak (MRL)
Tracked 2S9 SochorAWC NyxBTR-K KamyshCRV-6e BobcatED-1D Mini UGV (ED-1E) • IFV-6a CheetahIFV-6c PantherFV-720 MoraM2A1 Slammer (A4 UP) • M4 ScorcherM5 SandstormMBT-52 KumaT-100 Varsuk (X Futura) • T-140 Angara (T-140K) • ZSU-39 Tigris
Rotor-wing AH-9 PawneeAH-99 BlackfootAR-2 DarterCH-49 MohawkCH-67 HuronDemining DroneMH-9 Hummingbird (M900) • Mi-48 KajmanMi-290 TaruMQ-12 FalconPO-30 OrcaUH-80 Ghost HawkUtility DroneWY-55 Hellcat
Fixed-wing A-143 BuzzardA-149 GryphonA-164 WipeoutCaesar BTTF/A-181 Black Wasp IIKH-3A FenghuangMQ-4A GreyhawkTo-199 NeophronTo-201 ShikraUCAV SentinelV-44X BlackfishY-32 Xi'an
Aquatic Assault BoatMotorboatRHIBSpeedboatSDVWater Scooter
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Karts DLC | Helicopters DLC | Apex DLC | Jets DLC | Laws of War DLC | Tanks DLC | Contact DLC
Arma3-factionicon-nato NATO - Vehicles (ArmA 3)
Wheeled AMV-7 MarshallHEMTTHunterProwlerQuadbikeRhino MGS (UP) • UGV Stomper
Tracked CRV-6e BobcatED-1D Pelter (ED-1E Roller) • IFV-6a CheetahIFV-6c PantherM2A1 Slammer (A4 UP) • M4 ScorcherM5 Sandstorm
Rotor-wing AH-9 PawneeAH-99 BlackfootAL-6 PelicanAR-2 DarterCH-67 HuronMH-9 HummingbirdMQ-12 FalconUH-80 Ghost Hawk
Fixed-wing A-164 WipeoutF/A-181 Black Wasp IIMQ-4A GreyhawkUCAV SentinelV-44X Blackfish
Aquatic Assault Boat (Rescue) • Speedboat MinigunSDV
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Helicopters DLC | Apex DLC | Jets DLC | Laws of War DLC | Tanks DLC | Contact DLC
Arma3-factionicon-csat CSAT - Vehicles (ArmA 3)
Wheeled IfritMSE-3 MaridQilinQuadbikeTempestUGV SaifZamak
Tracked 2S9 SochorAkinaka ED-1D (Sayyah ED-1E) • BTR-K KamyshT-100 Varsuk (X Futura) • T-140 Angara (T-140K) • ZSU-39 Tigris
Rotor-wing Jinaah AL-6Mi-48 KajmanMi-290 TaruPO-30 OrcaTayran AR-2
Fixed-wing K40 Abalil-3KH-3A FenghuangTo-199 NeophronTo-201 ShikraY-32 Xi'an
Aquatic Assault Boat (Rescue) • Speedboat HMGSDV
Parenthesis denote variants.
Helicopters DLC | Apex DLC | Jets DLC | Laws of War DLC | Tanks DLC | Contact DLC
Arma3-factionicon-aaf AAF - Vehicles (ArmA 3)
Wheeled AFV-4 GorgonQuadbikeStriderUGV StomperZamak (MRL)
Tracked AWC NyxED-1D Pelter (ED-1E Roller) • FV-720 MoraMBT-52 Kuma
Rotor-wing AR-2 DarterAL-6 PelicanCH-49 MohawkWY-55 Hellcat
Fixed-wing A-143 BuzzardA-149 GryphonK40 Abalil-3
Aquatic Assault Boat (Rescue) • Speedboat MinigunSDV
Parenthesis denote variants.
Jets DLC | Laws of War DLC | Tanks DLC | Contact DLC
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