The level of firepower is off the charts: River Flotilla demonstrates boats with an M134 Minigun

The River Flotilla has demonstrated high-speed multipurpose boats SURC, equipped with a powerful set of machine guns, including the M134 Minigun.

Suspilne: Cherkasy reported on this.

The boats were presented at an event dedicated to the third anniversary of the creation of the Riverboat Division of the River Flotilla of the Ukrainian Navy in the Cherkasy region.

According to a division officer, these boats have already participated in combat operations in both the north and south of Ukraine.

Judging by the published photos, these are 38-foot SURC (Small Unit Riverine Craft) boats, which were transferred to Ukraine by the United States as part of military assistance in 2022.

These boats are used by the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy for operations in the coastal zone and on rivers.

SURCs have an aluminum hull that provides protection against small arms and can carry up to 16 soldiers. A bow ramp is provided for landing troops.

The boat is equipped with three points for mounting weapons: two in the bow and one in the stern.

The Ukrainian SURCs are equipped with two M134 Minigun machine guns at the front and one Mk 19 grenade launcher (mounted on one of the M2 Browning boats) at the rear, which provides them with considerable firepower.

Such weapons allow them to effectively perform air defense tasks, “flooding” enemy drones with heavy fire.

The boats are also equipped with two Yanmar 6LY2A-STP engines, modern AN/PSN-11 radio stations, a Raymarine SL72 LCD radar, and an ST 60 echo sounder.

On January 9, it was reported that the Ukrainian Navy received boats similar to the American RAB (Riverine Assault Boat).

However, it is still worth noting that it is less likely to be its “special purpose relative” – SOC-R (Special Operations Craft – Riverine).

The angle of the photo does not allow us to identify these boats more precisely, but the stern mount of the machine gun suggests that it is a RAB.