M Ship Co | In The News | Next Generation Hull Technology

Stiletto Maritime Demonstration Program Hosts First Capability Demonstration

February 8, 2013 - The Stiletto Maritime Demonstration Program conducted its first capability demonstration, Jan. 14-27, for the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) off the coast of Virginia Beach, Va. The program's Capability Demonstration provided NECC Sailors an opportunity to observe new technologies developed by industry in a realistic military maritime environment.
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Navy's Sole Streetfighter Ship Sails, Just Not for Navy

July 30, 2012 - The Navy built one prototype of a class of small, inexpensive ships backed by Vice Adm. Arthur Cebrowski in 2001 and which I wrote about Friday. Last Monday, NASA used it to retrieve an experimental space capsule heat shield off the coast of North Carolina following a rocket launch from Wallops Island, Va.
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Where Are the 'Streetfighter' Ships Now That We Need Them?

July 27, 2012 - The Washington Post reported today that the Iranian Navy has developed a fleet of small, inexpensive, heavily-armed patrol boats that could operate in swarms to attack and possibly sink large and expensive U.S. Navy ships operating in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy could have its own swarms today, if it had not dismissed the idea for a small, light ship proposed by Vice Adm. Arthur Cebrowski in 2001, which he dubbed the “Streetfighter.”
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NASA's Blow-Up Heat Shield In Hypersonic Test

July 25, 2012 - A large inflatable heat shield has survived a trip through Earth’s atmosphere while travelling at up to 7,600mph.The Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle Experiment, or IRVE-3, was launched by a rocket from a Nasa base on Wallops Island, off Virginia.The aim was to show a spacecraft can use an inflatable outer shell to slow and protect itself as it enters a planet’s atmosphere at hypersonic speed.

DoD Tries Buying Pixels, Not Planes, For Flexible ISR; It Ain't Leasing

May 7, 2012 - The military can't buy enough unmanned aerial systems to suit imagery-hungry combat commanders. Procurement programs are harder than ever to start in these days of ever-tightening defense budgets. And using a 20th Century defense acquisition system to buy 21st Century technologies often means getting too little too late too expensively anyway. What to do?

The Best of All Worlds?

May 1, 2012 - For most yacht designers the test tank and to a lesser extent the wind tunnel remain the ultimate arbiter of theoretical performance. Computer Fluid Dynamics and its relations are good, and becoming better by the day, but nothing beats empirical data... which was the original thinking driving the team that has put together a new empirical solution to an age-old dilemma.

Courtesy of Seahorse Magazine: http://www.seahorsemagazine.com/

Tow Tank Alternative

March 30, 2012 - Since 1998, the M Ship Company's executive director and co-founder, Bill Burns, has made a business of thinking outside the realm of conventional marine design. Genesis of the company: when living in Venice, Italy, business partner Charles Robinson, a former shipping and mining executive, observed damage to buildings caused by the wakes of boats on the city's vast network of canals.

The Defense Budget and American Power

March 6, 2012 - In testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, Michael O'Hanlon discusses cuts to the U.S. defense budget. O'Hanlon identifies changes in force structures, weapons plans and other military programs that could be considered, along with the rough ten-year savings that could result.

Drug Smugglers and Pirates Beware: Top Five Littoral Patrol Craft

February 10, 2012 - Drug smugglers and pirates pose a very different threat to naval vessels compared to traditional enemy forces. As a result, the increased need for security in littoral zones has seen smaller, faster and more agile patrol vessels grow in importance and popularity. Liam Stoker profiles five of the most popular and emerging littoral patrol craft.

Serial Innovator Extraordinaire - At 92, the holder of 44 patents still is CEO and chief lobbyist for his latest invention

January 25, 2012 - Charles W. Robinson has a new type of boat for sale. She's called the M80 Stiletto, and she looks like something out of a Batman movie. Her distinctive double-M–shaped hull, made of tough carbon fiber, gives her a top speed of 50 knots (about 60 mph) and a smooth ride in the roughest of seas. Robinson says her agility and stealthy profile make her ideal for Navy SEAL operations in shallow coastal waters.

MSHIP Helps Breed Clever Thinkers

September 13, 2011 - On occasion, MSHIP’s design team will invite students studying naval architecture to join the company for an internship program. During two recent intervals, Webb Institute student Andrew Lachtman joined our team, and contributed greatly towards the development of MSHIP’s Rapid Empirical Innovation (REI) open-water test platform.

Mosquito Receives A New Stinger

August 16, 2011 - The REI "Mosquito" Platform is adaptable to many different types of projects. Check out these pictures from the latest commercial project that we are working on.

Stiletto "SeaFence" - A Solution to Stop Maritime Smuggling Operations at the Border

July 1, 2011 - There is a new wave of crime on our high seas as criminal organizations in Mexico are frustrated by Customs & Border Protection's (CBP) increasing success securing our land border.

Stiletto Makes an Impressive Appearance at MACC 2011

June 16, 2011 - The Stiletto made an impressive appearance at the Multi-Agency Craft Conference (MACC) at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.

Team MSHIP Speeds Through San Diego Rock and Roll Half Marathon To Set New Personal Records

June 8, 2011 - Mship was well represented at the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon by Johnny Smullen, Kevin Fayad, Meredith Brown and Bill Burns with everyone setting new personal best performances.

To the Batboat! The Pentagon's New £5m Stealth Boat ... Caped Crusader Not Included

April 7, 2011 - It looks like Batman's latest toy. But this stealth boat is in fact the US Department of Defence's latest weapon in the fight against drug smugglers.

M80 Stiletto Stealth Launched to Help Fight U.S. War on Drugs

April 6, 2011 - It has been called the Batmobile of the sea - and this £5million superboat is the latest weapon in the fight against drug smugglers.

C-17 deal with India could create 30,000 jobs in US: Blake

October 2, 2010 - USD 4.4 billion deal of C-17 Globemaster aircraft with India has the potential to create as many as 30,000 jobs in America, a top US official has said.

Military Spy Boat Spent 2 Weeks in Charleston

August 3, 2010 - People who saw a space-age looking vessel speeding around waterways in the Charleston area last week might have thought their eyes were playing tricks on them, but they weren't.

Stiletto Ship - M Ship Innovates to Deliver Faster, Better, Cheaper Ship Designs for Navies Worldwide

July 5, 2010 - What does M Ship Co. do for an encore? The San Diego-based company designed the M80 Stiletto, a small, experimental Navy ship that continues to turn heads. The ship created a buzz in June as it made appearances in New York and Rhode Island.

From Hells Gate, Loosed Upon The World

June 5, 2010 - The Friday of memorial day weekend, your humble narrator stumbled into the wilds of Astoria, headed for Astoria Park. Astoria Park is at the western end of Queens, and adjoins the East River, hosting parts of both the mighty Triboro Bridge and the sublime exemplar of bridge engineering called Hellgate.

"Bat Boat" Should Strike Terror Into Terrorists

June 3, 2010 - When they wanted a prototype for their vision of a faster, more agile Navy, planners turned to a California firm headed by Portsmouth Abbey grad and Middletown native Bill Burns.

Pentagon’s Stiletto Stealth Craft is at Ocean Tech Expo, in Newport

May 28, 2010 - The angular 80-foot boat looks a bit like a stealth bomber cruising on the ocean surface while under way, a head-turning craft that has been likened to a Batmobile or a UFO since it was launched in San Diego four years ago.

MSHIP's ToughShip® Technology was put to the test at the Carlsbad 5000

April 22, 2010 - MSHIP's Bill Burns led "Team MSHIP" this year at the Carlsbad 5000, billed as the World's Fastest 5K. The 13 members gathered to run and walk 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) in the beautiful Village of Carlsbad, Calif., on Sunday, April 11.

Small Boats Menace Littorals

March 15, 2010 - Regional battles and asymmetric warfare are pushing naval conflicts to the littorals, where a range of tactics that rely as much on numbers for success as firepower are evolving to threaten capital ships. Key to these tactics are small boats, which have a history of successful deployment in hit-and-run attacks against materially superior adversaries.

Stiletto Maritime Test Platform will be available for tours at OceanTech Expo in Newport, RI this May 25-27

February 19, 2010 - Stiletto Maritime Test Platform will be on display at OceanTech Expo in Newport, RI this May 25-27 2010. The M80 Stiletto is a prototype naval ship manufactured as an operational experiment for the Pentagon's Office of Force Transformation.

Follow us on Facebook!

February 11 , 2010 - M Ship Co. now has a page on Facebook. Become a fan and stay on top of the latest updates.

Failing the Littoral Challenge - LCS Capabilities, Cost Miss the Boat -

January 17, 2010 - The U.S. Navy is proposing to purchase a fleet of 55 Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs) for a total cost of more than $25 billion, setting the course for fleet development to meet future challenges. Are we moving forward with the right vessels to fight the changing types of conflicts we now anticipate?

Drug Subs: Tune into the NatGeo special this Sunday

January 7, 2010 - This Sunday, January 10 at 10 p.m., the National Geographic Channel will air Inside Cocaine Submarines. The NatGeo special will focus on the latest technologies used by both smugglers and law enforcement in the war on drugs.

watch video teasers (which include footage and interviews on the Stiletto) »

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Defense Dept.'s special projects program features more-sophisticated weapons

November 10, 2009 - America's genius for innovation continues to be directed toward increasingly sophisticated weaponry. Take Bluegrass and Stiletto, two projects from the Defense Department's Quick Reaction Special Projects Program, which next year will divide $108 million among three of its research and development offices "that provide rapid funding to expedite new development and transition of new technologies to the warfighter," according to Pentagon material.

High-Speed Boat Brings New Wave of Special Operations Missions

August 31, 2009 - While cruising near the Florida Straits in the M80 Stiletto ship, the U.S. Coast Guard came upon a high-speed vessel that looked suspicious, so they decided to take a closer look.

Bill Burns to present at CD-adapco Marine Forum on September 1

August 31, 2009 - Bill Burns, Executive Director/Co-Founder of M Ship Co. is going to present at STAR Global Forum 2009: Aerospace, Defense & Marine. The event will be held in Long Beach, California on September 1-2.

click here to register »

see the agenda »

Navy Admiral Wants Do-Good Battlegroups

June 17, 2009 - For decades, the U.S. Navy has been built around its carrier battlegroups and amphibious ready groups: huge clusters of heavily armed warships, tailored for delivering massive firepower, in the form of airplanes or Marines. But for today’s “hybrid” wars, where winning over local populations is as important as killing the bad guys, these traditional naval groups aren’t necessarily the best things.

Joint Crew Aboard Stiletto Deploys to the Caribbean

June 5, 2009 - The Department of Defense's high-speed experimental boat Stiletto will depart from Key West, Fla., June 13 to the Caribbean where it will support U.S. and multinational counter-illicit trafficking (CIT) operations and conduct operational testing.

Soldier of the Future - NY Post Sunday Postscript

May 24, 2009 - It's the year 2030. As a soldier enters a crowded marketplace, sensors mounted on his helmet automatically scan faces in the crowd, identifying a known insurgent; a cursor in the heads-up display highlights the target and cues the weapon, which can be set to stun or kill; a simple voice command unlocks the trigger.

The Convoy Solution to Combating Piracy

May 11, 2009 - What to do about the pirates? This question endures, of course, even in the aftermath of the successful rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips from the Maersk Alabama.

The (smaller, faster, cheaper) Future of Sea Power

April 19, 2009 - IN THE PAST few years, with the US military battling vicious insurgencies, first in Iraq and now in Afghanistan, there has been plenty of talk about the nettlesome nature of the challenges it faces: "irregular warfare" and "asymmetric threats" are the catch phrases of the day.

Navy May Need Adjustments to Fight War Against Maritime Piracy

April 16, 2009 - Aside from that the Navy SEALs did one heck of a good job last Easter Sunday, another important fact has been thrust into the limelight -- something that proponents of reforms in the Navy have been lobbying for.

Buy Ford, Not Ferrari

April, 2009 - If the Navy rethinks the role of Carrier Strike Groups (Ferrari) and deploys new, scaled-down Influence Squadrons (Ford), the result will be 320 hulls in the water for three-quarters the price.

M80 Stiletto: The Navy's Wonder Ship

March 31, 2009 - It was three years ago when the U.S. Navy acquired a new, experimental double hull craft -- the M80 Stiletto. Its stats include the following: length, 84 feet; width, 40 feet; height, 18 feet; and weight, a relatively manageable 60 tons that can be scaled down to 45 when empty.

Wonder Ship Seeks Work

March 18, 2009 - Three years ago the U.S. Navy took possession of a new, experimental ship. It was an 84 foot long, 60 ton, double hull, craft called the M80 Stiletto. The ship took 15 months to build and cost $6 million.

Nassau, Comfort, Stiletto headed to 4th Fleet

March 12, 2009 - For a new numbered fleet without its own ships, 4th Fleet, based in Mayport, Fla., is off to a fast start. The command, which stood up nine months ago with an area of operations off central and South America, will play host to several upcoming multinational exercises, according to Capt. Alfred Collins, fleet chief of staff, who spoke at an expo on naval expeditionary forces here Wednesday.

A New Motoryacht for Darth Vader

March 4, 2009 - Luke Skywalker has come down to earth, has made up with his dad, and they are both now cruising happily in the Caribbean, and when things get dull, they catch a drug runner or two.

Stiletto Boat: The Water's 'Batmobile'

February 22, 2009 - If Darth Vader drove a boat, it might look like this. The Stiletto is a new experimental high-speed boat being tested by the United States military's Office of Force Transformation.

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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2008: Imperious Oats

December 28, 2008 - Wild Oats XI strode majestically up the Derwent River this morning to beat Skandia by one hour seven minutes and score a record fourth consecutive line honours victory in the Rolex Sydney Hobart after one of the best tactical battles seen at the head of the fleet in the race's 64-year history.

Great Ships of 2008 : STILETTO

December, 2008 - The Stiletto is an advanced-technology vessel designed and built by the M Ship Company as an operational experiment for the Department of Defense. It was developed for high-speed military missions in the shallow water areas of the littorals in support of the late Vice Admiral Arthur Cebrowski's vision of a "brown-water navy" for expeditionary combat in the 21st century.

The "Bat Boat" Experimental Vessel Scares Off Drug Smugglers

November 10, 2008 - The sight of the strange and stealthy craft passing by the looming apartment towers around the harbor of Cartagena might alone have scared away the bad guys. The weird, boxlike vessel could not have failed to attract interest from those in and around one of Colombia's busiest ports.

M Ship Aim: Safer Vessels for Special Ops

October 29, 2008 - The new technology being developed by M Ship Co., LLC, aims to benefit Special Operations Forces operating combat craft. M Ship is the maritime research and design firm that developed M-hull technology and built the Stiletto ship.

New Deployment Planned for 2009: SOUTHCOM Report Touts Performance of Stiletto Counterdrug Ship

October 23 , 2008 - An internal study prepared by U.S. Southern Command for Pentagon leaders touts the performance of an unorthodox ship called Stiletto that could change the face of counterdrug operations in littoral waters, Inside the Pentagon has learned.

M Ship Granted European Patent For M-hull Technology

October 22, 2008 - The European Patent Office has granted M Ship Co., LLC, a patent for its revolutionary M-hull Technology. The Maritime research and design firm also has entered into a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR) in San Diego.

Speedy Stiletto Cuts Off Smugglers - Innovative U.S. Test Craft Features Electronic Keel -

October 20, 2008 - The sight of the strange and stealthy craft passing by the looming apartment towers around the harbor of Cartagena might alone have scared away the bad guys.

Stuck on Centerline - Sailing World

September, 2008 - Canting keels make sailboats lighter, faster, and easier to sail. And when done right, they're safe. So why is the mainstream public so afraid of them?

Office Seeks to Quickly Field Counter-Terrorism Technologies

July 14, 2008 - Ben Riley, director of the Defense Department’s rapid reaction technology office, wants to tell vendors, laboratories or anyone else who has a gadget that can help defeat terrorists, insurgents or other bad guys, that he’s here to help.

Stiletto Makes Refueling Stop in Gitmo

July 2, 2008 - GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – Looking less like a littoral combat craft and more like something out of a James Bond movie, M-80 Stiletto, an experimental high-speed Army vessel, pulled into U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to refuel and resupply before continuing South.

Orphaned Ship Looks for Sugar Daddy

June 30, 2008 - What happens when the military builds an innovative new ship that is built within budget and on schedule? Nothing, and that's the problem. The Pentagon's now-shuttered Office of Force Transformation paid M Ship in San Diego to build the Batman-esque craft, called Stiletto, as an experiment in all-carbon shipbuilding. The stealthy, fast ship seemed a natural for special operations, and possibly as an alternative to the very troubled Littoral Combat Ship, the Navy's new shallow-water ship.

Littoral Combat Ship Troubles: Opportunity for Small Boat Companies?

March 14, 2008 - With the cost of the Navy’s littoral combat ship skyrocketing and its funding in peril of repercussions from Congress, some say the sea service ought to give serious consideration to acquiring cheaper boats that could complement a reduced fleet of larger surface combatants.

Ship leaves little wake, but makes lasting impression: San Diego-based M Ship Co. catches Navy's attention.(120-foot ship for littoral operations)

March 3, 2008 - Defense officials were on San Diego Bay last month testing the performance of a new stealth watercraft during minesweeping exercises. Normally, the mine-hunting exercise would fall under the purview of the Navy's enlisted force, but the Department of Defense is interested in more than just detecting mines under water. The goal was to test the combat capabilities of an innovative 50-ton ship made of carbon fiber materials.

Stiletto on the Navy SEAL website

February 12, 2008 - Navy SEALs are considered by many to be the most highly skilled maritime force in the world. It is only fitting that they would employ the most up-to-date, cutting-edge equipment the military has to offer.

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All-carbon composite stealth technology joins the U.S. Navy

September 24, 2007 - Unique double-M hull design creates smooth air cushion for low-wake, low-weight, low-draft ship.

M-hull: new thinking in boat design

June 19, 2007 - Unique hull creates lift, reduces drag and improves performance.

Experimental shipbuilder seeks increased congressional funding

April 19, 2007 - The M80 Stiletto, an experimental ship once featured on Time magazine’s Best Inventions list, is now featured in movie theaters across the country as part of Navy recruiting trailers. As the Navy tries to wow potential seamen with the vessel, the ship’s designer is aiming to convince lawmakers of its value to secure increased funding.

Enter the Stiletto

April 3, 2007 - The Pentagon, in its quest to retool for the age of terrorism, is funding a striking new experimental ship called the Stiletto. Made entirely of lightweight carbon fiber, the vessel's novel design makes it capable of a blazing 50 knots at sea. (That's 57.5 mph; a small yacht typically plods along at 7 knots.) Sponsored by the Defense Department's Office of Force Transformation, the Stiletto is a step toward faster, smaller, more agile boats that can take on enemies who themselves are today faster, smaller, and more agile. Its Pentagon backers call the ship "a combatant craft to counter the asymmetric threat"–terrorists, insurgents, transnational criminals, and more.

News from all over - Norfolk

March 16, 2007 - The Navy's new fast ship is nearly 90 feet long, 40 feet wide and attacks like a sea serpent. It's packed with banks of computers, flat-panel video screens and shock-absorbing chairs to smooth a ride that reaches speeds of more than 50 mph.

Navy Rocks the Boat: Monster assault craft hauls ass, Navy SEALs. Land, ho!

March 7, 2007 - Maxim Magazine article featuring the Stiletto.

Yer Wrong!

March 7, 2007 - The many critics who suggested that a big CBTF maxi could not survive a head-banging beat to Hobart have been silenced. In fact if was the Volvo 70 of Mike Sanderson that came apart while Bob Oatley's slender CBTF 100-footer Wild Oats XI barely paused for breath. Rob Mundle reports on the 62nd Sydney-Hobart Race.

'Out-of-the-box' naval architect - Burns key in designs by two S.D. maritime engineering companies

February 27, 2007 - M Ship Co.'s breakthrough lies below the waterline, where the hull bottom has tunnels that channel the bow wave in a way that generates lifting pressure, which enables a powerboat to move faster. CBTF pioneered a similar advance in sailboat design by replacing the conventional fixed keel with movable ballast and a more agile fore-and-aft rudder design.

Radio Show features Interview with MShipco's Bill Burns

February 27, 2007 -

Listen to a radio show interview with Bill Burns.

Trident Warrior '06 Strengthens Navy's Communication Capabilities

February 14, 2007 - Communication literally translates into the exchange of ideas, messages, or information, all of which are critical to any successful operation. Yet it is the term communications, a system for communicating, which aptly applies to the Navys FORCEnet exercise, Trident Warrior 06. FORCEnet is the key enabler of Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare that integrates Navy and Marine Corps capabilities through exploitation of network-centric warfare.

Navy’s Ground Combat Units Poised for Rapid Growth

February 6, 2007 - The Navy is sailing ahead with plans to get its new Expeditionary Combat Command up and running as quickly as possible, despite congressional concerns that it may be acting too quickly.

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CONNECT ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 19th ANNUAL MOST INNOVATIVE NEW PRODUCT AWARDS

December 19, 2006 - CONNECT today announced the winners of the 19th Annual Most Innovative New Product (MIP) Awards. The Awards honor the vision, hard work, and perseverance that transform ideas and technologies into products. This year’s theme, Innovation Starts Here, recognizes the global contribution made by products and technologies that originate within San Diego’s vital technology and life sciences communities.

Stiletto Profile on GlobalSecurity.org

December 4, 2006 - Stiletto is a 40' X 80' experimental craft which demonstrates the use of surrogates in the experimentation process to rapidly acquire, deploy, and employ new capabilities in today’s uncertain security environment. The ability to successfully execute littoral operations constitutes a fundamental capability for transformation in the current operational environment.

Stiletto Cuts a Swath to New Navy Technologies

November 29, 2006 - What may be the oddest looking U.S. Navy craft to set sail in years is carrying the hopes of visionaries who aim to transform Navy ships and missions with the aid of advanced technologies. The composite-material craft couples a new hydrodynamic design with a modular network-centric electronic system to leverage the many innovations emerging from the information technology sector.

Wakeless Wonder - Forbes Magazine

October 23, 2006 - Shipbuilders have spent the last hundred years making hulls narrower and deeper for more speed and stability. That makes the Pentagon's latest sea toy, the Stiletto, a bit of a surprise.

Stiletto - Unique vessel makes a sharp break with past practices

October 9, 2006 - "Studying ship designs for endless years is a lot less valuable than to go ahead and build a few," said retired Vice Adm. Arthur Cebrowski in a 2003 Seapower interview while chief of the Pentagon’s Office of Force Transformation (OFT).

Congressional Delegation Visit Stiletto

September 2, 2006 - A Congressional delegation visited Stiletto, a high-speed, carbon fiber-reinforced craft being tested with Navy expeditionary forces and U.S. Special Operations Command and currently operating out of the Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado, Aug. 29 2006.

OFT BRIEFS CNO EXECUTIVE PANEL ON PROGRESS OF ‘STILETTO’ EXPERIMENTS

July 21, 2006 - The Office of Force Transformation last week briefed an influential Navy committee on the progress of experiments with its new high-speed military ship, which is designed to maneuver close to shore and network with intelligence-gathering assets.

Ship Leaves Little Wake, But Makes Lasting Impression

June 5, 2006 - San Diego Business Journal -- Defense officials were on San Diego Bay last month testing the performance of a new stealth watercraft during minesweeping exercises.

A Flexible Stiletto: U.S. Packs Craft With Sensors and Networks To Test New Ideas

May 30, 2006 - Defense News -- This week in the sparkling Pacific waters near San Diego, a dramatically different kind of ship is set to begin experiments that its designers hope could change the way the U.S. Navy fights.

M Ship Succeeds In Taking Stiletto From Concept To Trials

March 16, 2006 - Stiletto, the Office of Force Transformation's (OFT) effort to design and build a high-speed vessel made of composite materials for Special Operations Forces (SOF), is undergoing acceptance trials this month, after successfully completing builder's trials in February, according to the co-owner of M Ship Co., the boat's builder.

Local Maritime firm unveils experimental Ship for Pentagon

February 1, 2006 - The 88-foot-long vessel, designed by San Diego's M Ship Co., also features the company's patented M-shaped hull, which provides for a fast and stable platform for mounting electronic surveillance equipment or weapons or for conducting special operations.

M Ship Co. Launches Experimental Vessel for Special Operations and Littoral Warfare; Unique Craft Features Breakthrough M-hull Design

January 31, 2006 - M Ship Co. today announced the launch of the M80 Stiletto, designed as an operational experiment for the Pentagon's Office of Force Transformation (OFT) and an example of the next generation of military vessels that combines new materials (carbon fiber), with a networked architecture and a revolutionary hull.

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US poised for innovative ship design experiment

November 16, 2005 - The US Department of Defense is preparing for an ambitious operational experiment with its largest-ever naval vessel built exclusively with carbon materials, according to US defense and industry officials. The initiative features the M 80 Stiletto, a 24.4 m-long, 12.1 m-wide vessel developed by M Ship Company of San Diego, California. The lightweight, all-carbon ship features the company's patented M-hull design. Bill Burns, the company's co-founder, told JDW that the hull converts wave energy into lift for the vessel. In the process, this reduces the ship's wake and allows for a fast yet smooth ride, he said.

Jumping Catfish Batman! 'Bat-Boat' demonstrator to be tested as high speed transport

October 17, 2005 - AN INNOVATIVE hullform that would not look out of place in a Batman movie is to be tested for its suitability as a high speed military transport vessel under the terms of a contract awarded in late September by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), acting on behalf of the Office of Force Transformation in the US Department of Defense.

Smooth by design Boat's innovative 'M-hull' is meant to let military vessel plane over rough waters

September 8, 2005 - The 80-foot vessel under construction at the Knight & Carver boatyard in National City has required no nails, no rivets and no welding. When it is completed, the craft will be one of the largest ever made completely from carbon composites, the featherweight stuff used to make tennis rackets, golf shafts and skis.

Special Operations Forces to Test High-Speed Composite Vessel This Year

May 5, 2005 - Stiletto, an 80-foot long high-speed vessel made of composite materials, will not only get Special Operations Forces (SOF) to their missions quicker, but could increase crew safety and potentially create a new market for the shipbuilding industry, according to a Navy official with the Office of Force Transformation (OFT).

Combat Evolution - Transformation Office Pushes Radical Tactics

February 14, 2005 - Confuse the enemy with chaos. Come at him in many ways from many angles. Do it as fast as possible. Change tactics quickly. But don't lose control of your own forces in the maelstrom you've created.

Office of Force Transformation, Department of Defense Wolf PAC Distributed Operations Experiment

December 7, 2004 - The Office of Force Transformation (OFT) is undertaking an initiative Wolf PAC to explore command and control (C2) of geographically dispersed, networked, autonomous and semi-autonomous assets.

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