The M80 Stiletto uses new technology to reduce construction and life-cycle costs, while significantly improving performance and capabilities. This vessel is a prototype naval ship manufactured by MSHIPCO as an operational experiment for the Department of Defense. Although it is only 88 feet long, its beam is an unusually wide 40 feet and – because of its hull technology and composite structure – performs like a much larger craft.
The Stiletto was developed for high-speed military missions in the shallow water areas of littoral, and near-shore waters in support of the Navy’s office of force transformation. No other hull compares to its speed, ride quality, payload capability and unmanned vehicle support.
The Stiletto was designed, developed and delivered in little over a year to demonstrate a different hull form and its scalability, composite construction and a modern design/build methodology.
The Stiletto is the largest vessel ever built for the U.S. government of advanced composite material (carbon fiber) for reduced weight and increased stiffness. Its performance and capabilities have fast tracked the design from experimental to operational.
Although not intended to become operational, 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.
Its superior performance is based on MSHIPCO’s proprietary, globally patented technology called the M-hull, using the bow wave energy to create an air cushion for more efficient planing. The vessel’s draft fully loaded is 3 feet and is designed for a speed of 50-60 knots.
