Fast attack craft

FACs are usually operated in close proximity to land as they lack both the seakeeping and all-round defensive capabilities to survive in blue water.

Italy and Great Britain were at the forefront of this design, with the Coastal Motor Boat (CMB) and the Motobarca Armata Silurante (MAS) (Italian: "torpedo armed motorboat").

All types saw extensive use during World War II but were limited in effectiveness due to the increasing threat of aircraft; however, some successes were achieved in favourable conditions, as showcased by the crippling of the cruiser HMS Manchester (later scuttled), in the night of 13 August 1942, by Italian MS boats.

After World War II, the use of this kind of craft steadily declined in the United States and Britain, despite the introduction of safer diesel engines to replace the highly flammable gasoline ones, although the Soviet Union still had large numbers of MGBs and MTBs in service.

The idea was first tested by the Soviet Union which, in August 1957, produced the Komar class which mounted two P-15 Termit missiles on a 25-metre (82 ft) hull with a top speed of around 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph).

110 Komar-class vessels were produced, while over 400 examples were built of the following Osa class with a significant portion of the total being sold to pro-Soviet nations.

North Korea alone operates more than 300,[4] while Iran has been seen developing "swarm boats" to be used as harassing vessels in the heavily contested littoral waters of the Persian Gulf.