Naval Warfare and Boats

Naval Warfare came to Battlefield 6 with Season 4 on Jul 21, 2026, bringing the 7.7m NSW RHIB and the RCB-90 armored patrol boat, waves, swimming combat and the island map Tsuru Reef; aircraft carriers followed on Aug 18, 2026 with Wake Island and Top Gun: Carrier Strike.

2:50 Naval Warfare is Battlefield 6's sea combat, added with Season 4 "Pacific Front" on Jul 21, 2026: two boats, the four-seat 7.7m NSW RHIB and the new two-seat RCB-90 armored patrol boat, on Tsuru Reef, the largest map in the game, with a dynamic wave system and limits on how far bullets travel through water. On Aug 18, 2026 the Top Gun phase added playable aircraft carriers to Tsuru Reef, the return of Wake Island and the carrier mode Top Gun: Carrier Strike. Those two are the maps built around boats. In the clip, from Battlefield's own Season 4 deep dive of Jul 17, 2026, the RHIB is a fast squad transport for storming beaches and the RCB-90 a patrol boat that hits land, air and sea targets and drops a ramp your team can spawn on.

Quick facts

Added	Season 4 Pacific Front, Jul 21, 2026 (update 1.4.1.0)
Boats	7.7m NSW RHIB (4 seats, machine gun), RCB-90 (2 seats, 30 mm autocannon, missiles, 120 mm mortar)
RCB-90 health	1,000 since update 1.4.3.0 (Sep 15, 2026), was 800
Naval maps	Tsuru Reef (Jul 21, 2026), Wake Island (Aug 18, 2026)
Carriers	USS Grant (NATO) and PXS Condor (Pax Armata) on Tsuru Reef; HQ carriers on Wake Island
Carrier mode	Top Gun: Carrier Strike, 32v32, Aug 18, 2026
Water rules	Waves and wakes, underwater explosions, bullets lose damage in water, drag and revive in water

The boats

Boat	Seats	Weapons	Notes
7.7m NSW RHIB	4	Mounted machine gun	Fast light transport, moved over from REDSEC
RCB-90	2	Driver: 30 mm autocannon and missiles; gunner: 120 mm mortar	Armored; a deploy point with its ramp down on shore

From the Season 4 roadmap (Jul 17, 2026) and EA's vehicles page. The RHIB was already in REDSEC on Fort Lyndon before it came to multiplayer.

5:56 The RCB-90 has loadout choices of its own. In GhostXMD's Jul 24, 2026 boat guide the better pick for the extra weapon is the Sea Spear 74 torpedo, which you steer onto a target for about 600 damage, over a rack of four naval mines that only work in deep water.

17:40 Alone in the boat? GhostXMD's tip is not to sit in the driver's seat in open water: park behind rocks or other cover, switch to the gunner's seat and use the 120 mm mortar on objectives, even ones out of the boat's line of sight.

How water works in Naval Warfare

2:10 Season 4 changed the water as much as it added boats. Battlefield's deep dive explains the dynamic wave system: waves react to their surroundings, so enclosed waterways are calm and easy to steer in but leave you an easy target, while the open ocean gets rough. The sea now has waves and wakes, explosions under the surface, and bullet penetration into water now depends on caliber, so a swimmer is not safe from everything (EA, Jul 17, 2026). Update 1.4.1.0 made bullets lose damage through water, and soldiers can now be dragged and revived in water (Movement, Squads and Revives). EA's Jul 30, 2026 update also planned water level control for naval maps later in Season 4.

Tsuru Reef and Wake Island

0:52 Tsuru Reef is a fictional Japanese island chain built for Naval Warfare and, in the deep dive's words, bigger than Railway to Golmud, with tanks, IFVs, boats, jets and helicopters together. Its islands are Yumeji, Kaze, Dusk and Mist plus two HQ islands, with an air base on Mist. EA's developer map guide of Jul 20, 2026 tells players to use boats between islands, dive under the surface and hide behind waves, land on Tsuru Air Base's runway to repair aircraft, and set Deploy Beacons on Mt. Hoshizora.

1:32 Wake Island, the series classic, came back on Aug 18, 2026, reimagined from the Battlefield V version, with each team's HQ a carrier off the island and a ship in the middle as cover for boats. It has capture areas that reach into the water and the new MV Cetus shipwreck (Wake Island guide, Aug 11, 2026).

Aircraft carriers and Carrier Strike

The carriers are part of the map rather than vehicles: the USS Grant for NATO and the PXS Condor for Pax Armata sit off Tsuru Reef, and they are fully used only in Top Gun: Carrier Strike, a reimagined Carrier Assault. EA's mode guide of Aug 13, 2026 sets the rules: 32 against 32 for 30 minutes; five SSM missile batteries on the islands fire at the enemy carrier about every 15 seconds while your team holds them; at 50% hull the carrier's M-COM rooms open; destroy both M-COMs and that side loses at once. It reworks Battlefield 4's Carrier Assault and Battlefield 2142's Titan mode.

EA's tips: keep a Spawn Beacon near the enemy carrier, hold most SSM sites to unlock anti-air, and remember that a jet's bombs hit as hard as an SSM strike. The two-seat jets made for the mode are on Jets; the mode itself on Limited-Time Modes.

Boat balance

Update 1.4.3.0 of Sep 15, 2026 raised the RCB-90's health from 800 to 1,000 and made the AH-6 Little Bird's minigun overheat about 33% faster and deal 50% less damage to RCB-90s and armored transports. Hotfix 1.4.2.5 (Sep 1, 2026) made helicopter miniguns damage swimmers again.

We think Naval Warfare is Battlefield 6's best addition of Year 1 and its least used: it lives on two maps, and Carrier Strike, its showcase, was a limited mode. EA's own year-one look back lists Naval Warfare among the highlights. We expect at least one more water map in 2027, and we think a heavier boat or an amphibious transport is the most likely new vehicle family after the B-81 Cavalry.

Frequently asked questions

When did boats come to Battlefield 6?

With Season 4 on Jul 21, 2026: the RHIB and the RCB-90 on Tsuru Reef.

Which maps have boats?

Tsuru Reef and Wake Island are the maps built for them, as of Nov 8, 2026.

Can you drive the aircraft carriers?

No. The carriers are fixed parts of Tsuru Reef and Wake Island. In Carrier Strike they are the objective, with M-COM rooms inside.

Can you spawn on a boat?

On the RCB-90, when its ramp is down on shore it acts as a deploy point.

Is Carrier Strike still in the game?

It was a Top Gun event mode from Aug 18, 2026, extended through the end of Season 4 on Oct 13, 2026. Check the current playlists in game or on Game Modes.

Sources

Moments

Season 4 Naval Gameplay Deep Dive | Battlefield 6

Battlefield

2:50 Naval Warfare is Battlefield 6's sea combat, added with Season 4 "Pacific Front" on Jul 21, 2026: two boats, the…
2:10 Season 4 changed the water as much as it added boats. Battlefield's deep dive explains the dynamic wave system: waves…
0:52 Tsuru Reef is a fictional Japanese island chain built for Naval Warfare and, in the deep dive's words, bigger than…
1:32 Wake Island, the series classic, came back on Aug 18, 2026, reimagined from the Battlefield V version, with each…

The ULTIMATE RCB-90 Boat Guide in Battlefield 6

GhostXMD

5:56 The RCB-90 has loadout choices of its own. In GhostXMD's Jul 24, 2026 boat guide the better pick for the extra weapon…
17:40 Alone in the boat? GhostXMD's tip is not to sit in the driver's seat in open water: park behind rocks or other cover…