piracy update

[JavaBrewer]

This is 2008. Smart weapons and global hawk. Sink the vessels used in piracy and they are back to fishing and street violence. Savy?

[RWebb]

do you want to pay for that?

there is a LOT of ocean to cover

besides, our UAVs are otherwise employed right now

[Hugh R]

The original reason for any Navy was to protect the high seas. Is it any different now? With a minimal $ you could wipe out this problem, period.

[svandamme]

udate for today

Greek cargo ship with crew of 23 was taken by pirate

Indian warship INS Tabar was fired on by a Pirate boat accompanied by 2 speedboats, and the Indians responded by sinking the thing.

"Thankin you very much for permitting us to shooting training sir!
Please come again!"

[imcarthur]

It's a pretty big chunk of ocean that is in play. Maybe it's time to start convoying again.

Ian

[Shaun @ Tru6]

so why don't we have a few hundred predator drones circling the area and charge countries/shipping companies for the service? Good profit potential I would think.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

so why don't we have a few hundred predator drones circling the area and charge countries/shipping companies for the service? Good profit potential I would think.

RWebb is right, the Global Hawks and Predators are tasked saturated...they can't build them fast enough.

I supplied these and they are still there, they are ship-based:

http://www.insitu.com/scaneagle

Anti-piracy is much harder than you think...they don't fly skull and cross-bones

You don't know they are bad guys until they want you to know.

[Sunroof]

Yep, news this morning was of an Indian Naval vessel sinking a Somali Pirate mother ship. I am more fascinated with what the Indian navy used then the loss of a Somali mother ship!! I never knew that India even had a navy!! Had to be sling shots and spears................

The issue of piracy off the African coast made national news on all major networks last night. The amazing thing is, is that these guys know the waters wells since they were fisherman before getting into the pirate trade. Going out 500+ miles is a no brainer for these guys.

Stay tuned its going to get more interesting. I am sure the Somali "war lords" who run the country must be taking a cut from each pirate village. To get to the pirates you have to get to the governing warlords. To stop the pirates, the warlords have to profit. This may turn out to be a costly international effort that may take years to stop.

[onewhippedpuppy]

One of my previous jobs was with a company that did a variety of engineering services. A project they were working (I wasn't involved) was mounting a very high resolution camera (ex-military technology) onto a King-Air ER and using it for surveillance. Some of their most interested potential customers were big insurance companies that hoped to use them to monitor and evade piracy threats.

Paul, I know that you know these things, surely we have the ability to monitor these small boats? Seems that neutralizing a few of these threats would quickly get the point across. Just for the sake of entertainment, can we use a carrier battle group and F-18s?

[legion]

Originally Posted by RWebb

No.

You'd blow up innocent civilians - lots and lots of them. Think about taking out a port in the US -- what surrounds it? A major city.

Yes, we should never punish evildoers because we might hurt or kill innocent people.

That will make the world a better place.

[Noah930]

Indian Navy sinks pirate ship.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081119/ap_on_bi_ge/piracy

[Sunroof]

The ongoing acts of piracy and may well parallel the golden age of piracy (1780 - 1820). Never since that time have so many sought riches on the high seas by acts of piracy. The goal as is, is simply money! Too bad, because the rule of the day used to be, "capture, take as a prize" or otherwise "destroy" enemy vessels. The British and the independent Buccaneers went after Spanish ships with a vengence.

Unfortunately, no Somali is brazen enough to take command of a fully loaded supertanker and see how far they can get! Think of the possibilities? Forget the ransom, forget the captured crew.............take the helm of a supertanker and check out the seven seas while your food stores and fuel hold up. Not one country crazy enough to board or destroy because of the environmental impact from damages or a sinking. Unfortunately, no PitCaran island or Port Royale to flee to either.

"I was just out for a joyride with my mates officer". These dirt poor desparate Somali's can do literally what they want to right now. Absolutely amazing. Perfectly timed to a world gone mad!!!!

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by Sunroof

Unfortunately, no Somali is brazen enough to take command of a fully loaded supertanker and see how far they can get! Think of the possibilities? Forget the ransom, forget the captured crew.............take the helm of a supertanker and check out the seven seas while your food stores and fuel hold up. Not one country crazy enough to board or destroy because of the environmental impact from damages or a sinking.

You're kidding, right?

Somali Pirates Seek Ransom for Hijacked Saudi Tanker, AFP Says

By Michael Heath

Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Somali pirates who hijacked a Saudi Arabian oil supertanker have demanded a ransom, Agence France- Presse reported, citing a man who was presented on Al-Jazeera television as one of the organizers of the attack.

"Negotiators are located on board the ship and on land,'' AFP cited the man, identified as Farah Abd Jameh, as saying. "Once they have agreed on the ransom, it will be taken in cash to the oil tanker,'' he said, without giving the amount to be paid.

The Sirius Star, filled with 2 million barrels of crude oil, was hijacked off east Africa and is currently anchored close to the coast of Somalia. Saudi Arabia's state-owned shipping line, Vela International Marine Ltd., said it has set up negotiation teams to free the vessel and its crew of 25.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aohlT_IUoKGw&refer=africa
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Or did you mean they're not brazen enough to try to pilot it all over the globe?

[M.D. Holloway]

I just don't see the Oil Gods putting up with this - best bet, send some Taliban over (what the heck, they are buds anyways), board the vessel, fight it till done - problems solved with zero friendlys iced.

What a very strange and interesting world

[Joe Ricard]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

Are you sure an RPG will go through the hull of a tanker?

500 yards? Couldn't major shippers afford to spend a few bucks to reach out and touch them with something that would be highly effective at that range and even further?

Like, maybe...

You damn right. seen it personally in the persian gulf 1989. RPG in the side of a tanker left 18" hole pouring burning crude for quite awhile. U.S. Navy ship I was serving on saved crew via helicopters. Made cover of Life Magazine.

[svandamme]

rpg's are shaped charges, designed to penetrate 30 to 60 cm of steel plate

Tanker hull's are between 15 and 25 mm

So if you ask me, i think an RPG rocket will blast through the first hull even if it the shaped charge doesn't go off..
And if it does go off, the jet of liquid copper will make light work of both hulls...

[Seahawk]

From another thread:

Big problem is swarm tactics at night in confined sea lanes...think Straights of Hormuz.

It is one thing to detect, it is a whole other bad of tricks to classify and identify prior to engagement based on current ROE.

Again, that is one of the reasons the Navy has a program of record, called Small Tactics UAS (STUAS) that will be competed early next year. System will be ship or land based, 24 hour endurance and a great sensor package. It will replace the current system I posted earlier.

Quick sea story:

I was the Air Boss on the USS La Salle during the PGW I...we did a bunch of mine clearance work and were the first ship into Kuwait the day the war ended. I also got to do a lot of flying.

We stayed in Kuwait 5 days before returning to Bahrain. On the way back, late one night, we were attacked by pirates who mistook us for a commercial ship. Four small boats armed with machine guns engaged us, two on each side, one forward, one slightly aft. The Captain of the ship, still a good friend of mine first called general quarters and gave us permission to engage. He then called one of the carriers to provide air support.

The engagement was brief since each side of the the La Salle had multiple 50 cals and small grenade launchers. My guys (the Air Department) owned all the aft armament and did very well. Engagement lasted maybe five minutes.

One potato, two potato, three potato later (45 minutes) the F-18 checks on station to help.

Long story, short: can't always count on CAP.

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

so why don't we have a few hundred predator drones circling the area and charge countries/shipping companies for the service? Good profit potential I would think.

Tonto once said to the Lone Ranger, "what you mean, we?"

Let's tally this up.

The U.S. Navy purchased the lastest version, the new MQ-9 Predator B UAVs for $8.3 million, but this includes ground control equipment, maintenance equipment and some spare parts. That's for ONE. Might be a bit overkill for even a large fishing trawler.

I suppose a good salesperson could make a decent commission selling these. Just need to find a customer willing to pay for 24/7 coverage.

Next option. Perhaps patrol convoys, modern radar and communications could do it. If high-tech weapons are used on-board for defense, the rest of the defense system, including trained personnel, better be a part of it. Otherwise, it's a window-shopping spree for weapons-hungry pirates; and there's nothing worst than an unskilled pirate in possession of a M134 Gatling gun.





Sherwood

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by 911pcars

Tonto once said to the Lone Ranger, "what you mean, we?"

Let's tally this up.

The U.S. Navy purchased the lastest version, the new MQ-9 Predator B UAVs for $8.3 million, but this includes ground control equipment, maintenance equipment and some spare parts. That's for ONE. Might be a bit overkill for even a large fishing trawler.

I suppose a good salesperson could make a decent commission selling these. Just need to find a customer willing to pay for 24/7 coverage.

Next option. Perhaps patrol convoys, modern radar and communications could do it. If high-tech weapons are used on-board for defense, the rest of the defense system, including trained personnel, better be a part of it. Otherwise, it's a window-shopping spree for weapons-hungry pirates; and there's nothing worst than an unskilled pirate in possession of a M134 Gatling gun.

The Navy bought two Predators for very special missions. They own three older ones for test and eval.

The Navy owns two Global Hawks for test and eval to support the BAMS program.

[Drdogface]

From comments I read on a news article on this subject I learned that tankers used to have security forces aboard. Marine insurers used to require this. They used to have escorts in dangerous waters. If all that's true, I think they better return to the previous plan