French Navy's infantry force to operate assault boats loaned from Sweden

Two fast assault craft of the Swedish Royal Navy arrived at the French Navy base in Brest earlier this week to begin an 18-month deployment during which they will undertake harbour and coastal patrol missions.

The two CB90-class boats are on loan to the French Navy for 18 months in fulfilment of a cooperation agreement. One other boat from the same class arrived at Toulon earlier this month.

Sailors of the Fusiliers Marins, the French Navy's infantry unit that is also responsible for security at the service's major installations, will use the CB90 boats to strengthen the monitoring and defence of France's maritime approaches.

Each CB90-class boat has multi-mission capability, a length of 19.4 metres, a beam of 3.8 metres, and a draught of only 0.9 metre. The waterjet propulsion delivers a top speed of over 40 knots, a cruising speed of 38 knots, and a range of 300 nautical miles.

The CB90 craft will augment the Fusiliers Marins' two 15-metre interceptors, which were delivered in 2023.