Skjold - class patrol boat " Skjold " - class coastal corvette s ( skjold means " shield " in Norwegian ) are a class of large , superfast , stealth missile craft in service with the Royal Norwegian Navy . The boats were formerly classed as MTBs ( motor torpedo boats ) but , from 2009 , the Royal Norwegian Navy has described them as coastal corvettes ( " kystkorvett " ) because their seaworthiness is seen as comparable to corvettes . They were built at the Umoe Mandal yard . Although the Skjold class patrol boats remain the fastest armed craft in the world , the unarmed Canadian Navy high speed patrol craft hydrofoil prototype HMCS Bras d ' Or has attained speeds of over . Development and production . The " Skjold " class vessels began with the development of the Royal Norwegian Navy ' s " Project SMP 6081 " , and the first preproduction version was ordered on 30 August 1996 . The first ship of its class , P960 , was launched on 22 September 1998 and commissioned 17 April 1999 . A Norwegian Parliamentary White Paper of 2001 recommended building five additional boats , and this was agreed to in 2002 . Six Skjold - Class MTBs have replaced the Royal Norwegian Navy ' s previous fourteen " Hauk class " MTBs . Design . The Skjold design is a surface effect craft , constructed of glass fibre / carbon composite materials . Buoyancy is augmented underway by a fan - blown skirted compartment between the two rigid catamaran - type hulls . This provides an alternative solution to the planing hull / vee hull compromise : the air cushion reduces wave slam at high speeds while presenting a low - drag flat planing profile at the waterline . To ensure stealth capabilities , anechoic coatings of radar absorbent material s ( RAM ) have been used in the load - bearing structures over large areas of the ship . This strategy leads to significant weight saving compared to the conventional construction technique of applying RAM cladding to the external surfaces . The ship ' s profile has a faceted appearance with no right angle structures and few orientations of reflective panels . Doors and hatches are flush with the surfaces and the windows are flush without visible coaming ( edge of window aperture ) and are fitted with radar reflective screens . The vessels are additionally protected by the Rheinmetall MASS sensor / decoy system . The final design was changed compared to the prototype " Skjold " , which itself was rebuilt to the new specifications . Most notably , the vessels use 4 gas turbines , two large ones and two small ones , giving greater power . Two MTU 123 cruise diesel propulsion units used previously at loiter speeds were removed . The foredeck was strengthened to accommodate the addition of a 76 mm Otobreda Super Rapid gun . The hull material was produced by a different method to improve strength and minimize vulnerability to fire . The bridge saw some changes , including an upgrade to six weapon systems control consoles . US Navy . The U . S . Navy and Coast Guard expressed interest in the design and leased the P960 for a period of one year , from 2001 until 2002 . During that time it was operated by a 14 - man Norwegian crew out of Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek .