Category Archives: News

Defense Roles and Missions

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Wednesday, April 13, the President asked for a new roles and missions analysis, with the intention of saving $400B from “security spending,” over the next twelve years.  Reportedly this will include the departments of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, and Energy, as well as DOD.

A little surprising to me this will include DHS and by extension the Coast Guard. The first thing that comes to mind of course is cuts, but that isn’t the only way things could go. There could also be some reassignment of responsibility, that result in over all savings, but leave one or more service or agency stronger than before. Of course it could also mean moving the Coast Guard into the Navy Department could be looked at again.

Will The Coast Guard stop operating larger ships and simply put boarding teams on Navy ships? or will the Coast Coast Guard be seen as a Naval asset that with a little augmentation could take over some of the Navy’s roles? Or will the CG simply be ignored?

What should the Coast Guard’s “security” roles be? For counter terrorism? For wartime? What “core competencies” does the Coast Guard need to maintain? Could this effect other missions as well?

An Optionally Manned Patrol Boat?

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Military.com has an interesting video here. Of course as the structure of a boat gets lighter, it can carry more, go faster, or require less power to push it at speed. This one is made of a composite honeycomb sandwich.

They claim a range of 3,000 miles, it would seem, similar unmanned remotely piloted surface vessel could be useful in extending the radar and visual horizon of our patrol ships relatively cheaply, without the complications of unmanned aircraft.

Because of the low weight, they claim fuel consumption is a quarter of that of a conventional aluminum craft.

More media photos and video here.

Advocacy

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The Seventeenth District Commander had a nice piece in the Juneau Empire on 17 April talking about why building the Bertholf Class “National Security Cutters” (NSC) is important to Alaska. I’m a lot more worried about getting the Offshore Patrol Cutters started than I am about finishing the Bertholf Class. Right now it appears we are going to limp along funding an NSC every other year, but I feel we see far too little of this sort of effort to advocate for the needs of the service to the general population.

Piracy update–April 15, 2011

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The first quarter of 2011 saw record numbers of pirate attacks, 142 of which 97 of the attacks (70%) occurred off the coast of Somalia, up from 35 in the same period last year. Attackers seized 18 vessels worldwide, including three big tankers, and captured 344 crew members. Pirates murdered seven crew members and injured 34 during the quarter.

But there have been some potentially important developments.

For the first time The FBI has indicted one of the men behind the pirates after capturing him in Somalia.  “Mohammad Saaili Shibin, a/k/a “Khalif Ahmed Shibin,” a/k/a “Shibin,” of Somalia, was indicted on March 8, 2011, by a federal grand jury in Norfolk, Va., in association with the alleged pirating of an American yacht, the S/V Quest, and taking hostage four U.S. citizens, who were ultimately killed before their release could be secured. The indictment remained sealed until Shibin made a court appearance on April 13, 2011. Fourteen co-conspirators were indicted the same day and are awaiting a jury trial currently scheduled to begin on Nov. 29, 2011.”

Where to imprison pirates has been problematic for most countries leading to a “catch and release” approach, but the UN is working with elements in Somalia to open three prisons for convicted pirates. One is open now and two more are planned, but the new prison will only accept pirates from Somaliland, the most stable of three regions in Somalia. The second prison is planned for Puntaland, location of the third has not been chosen. The UN Security Council is also looking for ways to set up Somali courts to try those accused of piracy.

Operationally there has also been some good news.https://chuckhillscgblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/800px-esbern_snare_baltops_2010c.jpg?w=300

April 2, the Danish Navy command and support ship HDMS Esbern Snare, 6,300 tons (right) stopped aFile:Minelayer Pohjanmaa Suomenlinna 6.JPGnd boarded a Iranian F/V being used as a pirate mother-ship, freeing 18 hostages and taking 15 suspected pirates into custody after a firefight that result in the wounding of three suspected pirates.

 

The Finnish Navy minelayer and command ship FNS Pohjanmaa, 1,450 tons (left), seized a Dhow that was being used as a pirate mother ship on April 6 and after an investigation, destroyed it on April 9. 18 suspected pirates were detained. Continue reading →

Protecting the Iraqi Oil Terminals–the Drawdown Begins

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The Coast Guard has had a major role in protecting the two offshore oil terminals through which flow most of Iraq’s oil exports. This is the source of most of the Iraqi government’s capital. 110 foot WPBs and Navy patrol craft have been protecting these critical assets almost since the end of the second Iraq War, but supporting them has been a frigate or destroyer normally supplied by an allied navy, most commonly British. This support is coming to an end. The British have made their last planned deployment in support of the operation.

Lasers vs Small Boats–the Low Cost Solution? Will We Have the Power?

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Here is more evidence that laser weapons are on the way, although the video does not look that impressive. We have already seen video of lasers taking out air targets, which has to be more demanding, so the fact that lasers can start a fire on a boat should not be surprising.

What caught my attention was this statement, “Lasers can address a number of emerging threats, enabling the fleet to maintain freedom of operation, yet with a very low cost of operation. Lasers will offset the use of higher cost kinetic defenses for a number of these threats, substantially reducing the total cost of ship defense.” –Lasers are the low cost option?

https://chuckhillscgblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/10296.jpg?w=300

The press release says that the system, “tracked and damaged moving, remotely piloted, unmanned small boats traveling at representative speeds and ranges.” In the video the boat’s engines appear to be idling, there is no attempt at evasion, and the range is not stated. Also the clip does not appear to be continuous, so the time required is not clear. Even apparently edited, it takes some time before the fire breaks out. Presumably the fire was only as large as it was because the engines were running, bringing gasoline to the fire.

Still, I can see some circumstances where a weapon that can be turned down to less than lethal settings, and be applied very precisely, might be useful.

Lasers do seem to have a future within the lifetime of the ships the Coast Guard is planning now. Perhaps it would be prudent to make sure that they have the electrical generating capacity to use these weapons. This seems another reason to look closely at diesel electric or at least hybrid propulsion for the Offshore Patrol Cutters. As the captain of the Starship Enterprise might say, the command may be, “Divert power to the shields.”