Boat Troop

SAS Boat Troops are the regiment's amphibious experts. In essence, Boat Troop provide a comparable capability to the Army as the Special Boat Service (SBS) provide to the Navy's Royal Marines.

Boat Troop's role covers all aspects of amphibious warfare. Due to their overlapping roles, there is close cooperation and cross-training between Boat Troop and the SBS. A bitter rivalvry exists between the 2 special forces units but despite this, it was a combined forces of SBS/SAS troops that intercepted and stormed the MV Nisha cargo ship in 2001.

The men of Boat Troop are highly skilled in :

• Insertion and extraction of patrols via rigid inflatables (RIBs) / rigid raiders
• Covert infiltration via shallow diving
• Underwater demolitions, including attacking ships in harbours
• Maritime Counter-Terrorism (MCT)

Boats

The range of boats available to Boat Troop include :

• Inflatable Raiding Craft
  Small rubber Inflatables, usually powered by single outboard motors. They can be stowed deflated aboard motherships until just before launch, or airdropped into the sea before inflation. They can also be inflated on the decks of surfaced submarines.
  read more : inflatable raiding craft
  
  
• Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBS)
  RIBs are soft-skinned tubes attached to rigid hulls made of glass-reinforced plastic (GRP). Known models include Arctic / Pacific 22 ft / 28 ft versions. RIBs can carry up to 15 fully laden troopers at speeds up to 35 kt. Weapons and secure communications gear can be installed on the RIBs. Boat Troop use RIBs for river patrols, shore insertion/extraction and ship boarding.
  read more : rigid inflatable boats
  
  
• Rigid Raiders
  These light boats with hulls made from GRP are almost unsinkable.
  read more : rigid raiders