The Stiletto is to date, the largest ever ship created from advanced composites for the U.S. Navy and was designed for delivering Special forces to their insertion points quickly and quietly.
While heavier ships use their size to push through oncoming waves, the lightweight powerboats that are currently used to get soldiers to drop off points are too light to do this, instead its quite a rough ride for the troops as the boat goes bouncing through the waves.
The M80 however, can push through rough seas with ease thanks to its patent-pending technology, the ships M-hull uses bow wave energy to create an air cushion for more efficient planing. This not only reduces the Stiletto’s draught to just 3 feet even when fully loaded with crew and up to 20 tons of equipment, but it also drastically improves the ride and fuel efficiency with very minimal drag.
Along with comfort the M80 has also been built for speed and is equipped with four caterpillar engines capable of a top speed in excess of 60 knots with a range of 500 nautical miles (900 km) when fully loaded. The body of the vessel is constructed almost entirely from carbon fibre, which reduces its weight to just over 45 tonnes while maintaining the ships structural strength.
Although not intended to become operational just yet, the Stiletto was deployed to Colombia to help fight the U.S. war on drugs and made a high-speed, shallow-water drug interdiction that resulted in the capture of 1,800 lbs of cocaine.