Sentinel Boats to supply 7 830R boats for Australia’s Special Operations Forces

Sentinel Boats chief executive officer George McGuire said the contract was not only a great vote of confidence in Sentinel Boats, but also in Australian design and manufacturing capabilities.

“It will help create more skilled jobs, secure our national sovereign defence capability, and play a small part in turning around our nation’s declining manufacturing sector,” he said.

“It’s a proud day for Sentinel Boats … We’ll initially provide two 830R-SPL watercraft to Special Operations Command later this year.

“The 830R was first developed as a high-performance police vessel. The next rear console variant was focused on military/para-military operations, including boarding operations. These vessels were exported to Ukrainian Armed Forces through Australia’s military gifting program, as well as being used by Defence.

“Now the latest variant, the 830R-SPL, will enter service with Australia’s elite Special Operations command for use across a wide range of training and operational scenarios.”

The 830R-SPL is made from high-density polyethylene, a unique boat building material that offers superior performance, crew safety, is incredibly durable and can absorb impacts that would render other vessels inoperable. It can also be quickly repaired in the field, removing operational downtime.

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The 830R-SPL builds on previous generations of the 830R to feature integrated Henriksen lifting and painter hooks, allowing it to be launched and recovered from a parent ship while it is underway, and pneumatic “D” collar that allows a larger cargo area and three-abreast seating. This provides greater operational flexibility including the operation of autonomous systems and the self-righting capability developed for Sentinel Boats’ contract to provide a new fleet of sea boats for the Royal New Zealand Navy.

Sentinel Boats is a world leader in advanced tactical craft manufactured from HDPE. Its award-winning vessels are entirely Australian designed and manufactured together with One2three Naval Architects. Sentinels are in service across Australia and the world.

Sentinel Boats won the Defence Award at the Australian Manufacturing Awards last October. It is producing 17 Sentinel 780Rs for the RNZN and was named NZ prime contractor of the year in 2023 for the delivery of high-speed Sentinel 1250 Littoral Manoeuvre Craft to the RNZN.

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.