US Customs and Border Protection

The sleek, 43-foot boat with a quartet of 350-horse-power engines is called the Advanced Concept Demonstrator Vessel, a $900,000 prototype that The US Customs and Border Protection is testing as possibly their next generation of boat.  The prototype boat has the latest in gadgets, including cameras that can lock on and track suspects, producing videos that can be used in court.

On the current interceptors, there's no optical camera," said Marine Interdiction Agent Josh Johnson of Port Angeles, Wash. The camera can see for about 1 mile, and, using heat sensors, acquire targets up to 3 miles away. The 1,400 total horsepower is the most that can be run with the 20,000-pound boat, Norton said. That's 500 more horsepower than the current generation of 39-foot patrol boats.

The new boats have top speeds close to 75 m.p.h., compared with a top speed of about 62 m.p.h. for the current boats. The hull is fiberglass reinforced with aluminum.