Fight or Flight - Part 4

I’ve seen comments about the boats and crews that were seized by the Iranians to the effect that if they had resisted they would have been killed. This is an improbable statement. Let’s take a look at the boats and their weaponry.

The boats are the 52 foot long Riverine Command Boats, as they are called by the Navy. They are actually CB90’s, capable of 40 kts, and they are quite heavily armed for their size. They have at least four weapon mounts for a mix of 0.50 cal machine gun, GAU-19 0.50 cal mini-gun, dual 0.50 cal machine guns, and Mk19 grenade launchers. They also mount a Mk49 Mini-Typhoon remote weapon station. The boats are armored against 7.62 mm.

Of course, we don't know the exact weapons fit of those particular boats. However, if the boats were unarmed or lightly armed when transiting near an avowed unfriendly country it would only make a bizarre situation even more baffling. There is no reason to believe the boats were not armed as typical for the class and every reason to believe they were.

It's highly unlikely that

Iran

just happened to have more powerful boats than that. The crews would have had every expectation of successful defense with minimal casualties.

Here's a few photos to illustrate the firepower these craft have.