"Fearless" and "Defiant" are the names of the boat projects that have recently been mastered by the maritime border guards.

This is how the Ukrainian people are now being identified in the minds of the world community - fearless and unconquered.

Recently, servicemen from the ship and boat crews of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine visited the United States to receive training in the management and operation of small patrol boats such as Fearless and Defiant.

These boats will soon be transferred to the border guard agency from the U.S. Government as part of a joint project with the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) and with the active support of the Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance (EXBS) program.

Such cooperation with international partners is a practical step in ensuring the renewal and modernization of the ship and boat fleet of the Maritime Guard of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

It is worth noting that the "Defiant 38" is used by the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy, the Armed Forces, fire departments and law enforcement agencies around the world, where it has proven itself.

Practical training took place in Louisiana, directly at the manufacturer of this type of boat, "Metal Shark", a shipbuilding company that specializes in the manufacture of aluminum hulled boats.

For 10 days, under the guidance of the company's instructors, the maritime border guards studied the structure, tactical and technical characteristics, and rules for operating the engines of these boats, as well as mastered practical skills in their operation.

Since the vast majority of the training participants have considerable practical experience on small boats of the "UMS-1000" project, certain elements of the training went much faster than planned.

Of course, we had to adapt to the climatic nuances: 40-degree heat and 90% humidity. However, after just a few days of training, the border guard sailors were already managing the boats on their own, both on the river and in the ocean. The American mentors positively commented on how quickly and intensively their "students" mastered the science.

Boat handling in special and stormy conditions, emergencies, rescuing personnel on the water, maneuvering, using a floating anchor, boat handling in narrow places, removing a boat from the shallows, assisting personnel in evacuating from emergency ships - this is not a complete list of elements that were practiced during the exercises.

According to the maritime border guards, the boats are very fast, extremely maneuverable, and even relatively quiet.

The "Defiant" and "Fearless" boats are equipped with modern navigation, control, automatic fire suppression systems, video surveillance cameras, and are generally comfortable and very ergonomic. Therefore, they will be useful and reliable assistants in the protection and defense of Ukraine's state border.

During their stay in the United States, the border guards were very impressed by the fact that they felt sincere support from Americans everywhere, who expressed their gratitude to our nation for the heroic struggle. "Iron men" - these words have been heard virtually everywhere, from many ordinary US citizens. As well as wishes for a victory as soon as possible.