U.S. Customs officials in South Florida are testing the latest seafaring combatant in the war on smuggling, a 43-foot interceptor with a top speed of 65 knots (75 mph), heavy firepower and comfy, shock-absorbing seats.
Officials say the new test vessel could replace the outdated 39-foot "Midnight Express" interceptors they're using to chase down drug runners and human traffickers off Florida's coast.
The new boat has a range of 400 nautical miles and four supercharged Mercury Verado outboard engines producing 1,400-horsepower. That's a 500-horspower bump over the Midnight Express interceptors and enough to turn your spinal cord to mush in rough water. That's where the "shock-mitigating" seats come in handy.
All that speed is useless if you can''t see what you're hunting, so the vessels feature infrared cameras. And there are provisions for mounting M-48 machine guns on the port and starboard gunwales.
The boats cost $550,000 apiece.
Photos: U.S. Customs Border Protection. More pics after the jump.
