piracy

Libya Lessons Learned Drive Huge Amphib Exercise

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ABOARD THE USS WASP: Navy and Marine Corps leaders involved with the huge Bold Alligator amphibious warfare this week will tell you it’s all about the lessons learned. And there was no bigger lesson in amphib combat ops in recent years than Operation Unified Protector, also known as Libya.

“Libya [operations] played a huge role” in the planning and execution of the various operational scenarios sailors and Marines will carry out during Bold Alligator, Lt. Cmdr George Pastoor said, referring to the UN-mandated peacekeeping mission that helped oust former Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi last March. Keep reading →

Published February 8, 2012 at 6:00 AM

Navy Arms Its First Unmanned Vehicle — Fire Scout

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Washington: The Navy will place arming its fleet of Fire Scout drones with a modified Hydra rocket, heralding a new era in unmanned combat for the service.

An armed Fire Scout will dramatically cut the Navy’s kill chain, or time it takes to identify, track and eventually sink an enemy target, says Jan Van Tol, a naval analyst at the Center For Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. The unmanned drone can take out fleets of small, fast moving boats favored by drug smugglers and pirates with relative ease, Van Tol pointed out. “I see this primarily as useful for [counterterrorism and] counter-piracy, dealing with “swarms” of small boats,” he said. The armed Fire Scouts will also free up the Navy’s manned helicopters to do other missions, he added. Keep reading →

Published November 9, 2011 at 12:38 PM

Search and Rescue: Why the Coast Guard Needs Help

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The Coast Guard plays important roles combating piracy and keeping America’s shores safe, but unless the President is an alchemist and can turn words into money, the service soon won’t be able to do what Congress says it must do.

There is no military area where gap between words and deeds yawns wider than in the Coast Guard. Recently, President Obama noted “we know that the complex missions asked of our Coast Guard have never been more important. Around the world, we need you to partner with other nations to secure their ports, protect the vital shipping lanes of the Persian Gulf, combat piracy off the Horn of Africa, and help train foreign partners from the Americas to Africa to Asia. Here at home, we need you to stop those smugglers, and protect our oceans, and prevent terrorists from slipping deadly weapons into our ports.” Keep reading →

Published June 15, 2011 at 2:25 PM