Missile Boats

Missile Boats

A missile boat or missile cutter is a small warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being a small craft, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming an inexpensive navy. They are similar in idea to the torpedo boats of the World War II; in fact, the first missile boats were modified torpedo boats replacing two or more torpedo tubes with missile tubes. The doctrine behind the use of missile boats is based on the principle of mobility over defence. The advent of proper missile and electronic counter measure technologies gave birth to the idea that, because a missile is far more accurate than a shell and can penetrate even the most heavily armored ship hulls, warships should now be designed to outmaneuver their enemies and get to a better position first.

Moreover, increasing the potency of shells requires employing larger projectiles, which necessities larger naval guns and consequently, larger platforms to carry these guns. This trend culminated in the giant battleships of WWII. The ability to deploy anti-ship missiles on small, maneuverable platforms seriously negates the advantages that were provided by larger ships in the era before the advent of guided missiles. A small missile boat, when equipped with sophisticated guided anti-ship missiles can pose a serious threat to even the largest of capital ships, and do so at much greater ranges than is possible with torpedoes.