Worldwide Patrol Boats
Fast Attack Craft (FAC)
Fast Inshore Attack Craft (FIAC)

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A Fast Attack Craft (FAC) (German: Schnellboot) is a small (100 to 400 tons), fast (up to 40 knots) ship for offensive tasks, mainly equipped with surface-to-surface missiles and/or anti-ship torpedoes. The corvette has not just replaced the fast attack craft, which dominated the export market some 20 or 30 years ago, but it continues to evolve into a multi-role platform, which further enhances its value. There are signs that the major navies are also beginning to appreciate their value as general-purpose warships for medium- and low-intensity operations. A ship constructed and armed for combat use with the capability to conduct operations in multiple maritime roles against air, surface and subsurface threats, and land targets.

As with the Fast Attack Craft (FAC) the prime role of the corvette is anti-surface warfare, or ASUW (sometimes ASuW or less commonly, anti-surface warfare), a type of naval warfare directed against surface ships. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an (ASuW) and the main weapon for this is the surface-to-surface missile with radar seeker.

The concept of small attack craft commenced with the use of spar mounted torpedoes carried by steam launches during the American Civil War, and by the 1880s, fast steam powered craft were developed that carried automobile torpedoes and served to attack capital ships. They proved so dangerous that another, larger type of vessel, the torpedo boat destroyer, was designed to combat them. These vessels were the prototypes of the modern destroyer.

A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties. There have been many designs for patrol boats. They are warships smaller than a corvette and can include fast attack craft, torpedo boats and missile boats. Riverine boats are vessels specifically designed to operate in littoral and shallow water environments.

Such a boat may be a fast patrol boat or like a luxury cruiser, and may typically have a length in the range of 10 to 60 meters and a displacement fully laden in the range of 15 to 500 metric tonnes. The patrol boats that sail in the coastal area or rivers commonly have a length of 15 to 30 meters, and a displacement from 20 to 100 tons. This is also a common break-point for shipbuilding, as most companies that build boats of this length or less do not build larger vessels, and vice-versa. Patrol boats are always characterized by length overall, and in contrast to larger vessels above 500 tons, these smaller vessels seldom list displacement among their specifications.

They may be operated by a nation’s navy, coast guard, police force or customs and may be intended for marine (blue water) and/or estuarine or river (“brown water”) environments. They are commonly found engaged in various border protection roles, including anti-smuggling, anti-piracy, fisheries patrols, and immigration law enforcement. They are also often called upon to participate in rescue operations.

• Coastal Patrol Vessel - "Coastal" covers a wide range of ships since the operating conditions vary widely along different countries' coasts. In general, these boats are smaller than the large patrol vessels and operate within sight of land, but some are capable of handling very rough conditions. Some of the latter are "large patrol boats" and are the exceptions generated by extremely rough coastal waters. Their speed is moderate to high. The armament is usually machine guns and small arms.
• Inshore/Harbor/River Patrol Vessel - This class is the smaller, open boats that patrol calmer waters. Their mission is river and harbor patrol, close-in drug interdiction, and related law enforcement functions. They are generally high speed and very maneuverable. They are armed with small arms or light machine guns. Exceptions due to geography are countries which have large river patrol craft.
• Fast Attack Craft (FAC) -- The mission of this ship is force projection within the country's EEZ, and occasionally to another country's. They have higher speed, are heavily armed but have limited endurance. This class can be further subdivided into gun, missile, or torpedo types. This is more of a warship. There are quite a large number of these ships and they are put into a separate listing, but since their characteristics fall within the general range of patrol vessel, they are included in this category.

The makeup of the patrol boat fleets is quite different by region. South American countries tend to like smaller, faster ships while the Middle Eastern countries want larger, more heavily armed ships. The threat in the Caribbean is drug running, while countries in the Middle East are on the verge of war with any number of neighbors at all times.