“The strike is the 17th announced strike since the campaign began in early September, which has resulted in 70 killed, 69 killed in the strikes and one presumed lost at sea, according to a USNI News tally of the strikes.”
The first comment is,
“show me one iota of evidence that these are drug boats, just one.
“of course you can’t. the boats and bodies burned and sank before any actual evidence could be collected. every single image provided by the government is deliberately low resolution and provides no more evidence that this is a drug boat than a fishing boat.
“the only terrorism going on here is that being committed by our government.”
So why hasn’t there been any presentation of evidence, maybe not in every case, but at least in some cases. I think the evidence is there, but so far, it seems we have not bothered to collect and present it.
In my admittedly limited experience, when a drug boat sinks, at least some of the cargo floats to the surface. Have we made an effort to secure evidence? It is worth doing.
When a government agency does something as questionable as killing people without even asking them to surrender, we need to demonstrate why the action is necessary. It is not enough to simply say “trust me.” Failing to demonstrate the necessity of the action opens up the country and the agency to criticism and weakens American influence.
The methods might still be questioned but providing proof that the boats were transporting drugs would at least provide some justification.
“The former United States Coast Guard cutter Steadfast arrived in Malaysia on 4 November, completing a 10,600 nautical mile journey from Baltimore to begin its service with Malaysia’s coast guard, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.”
Look at the picture. This ship, the former USCGC Steadfast was commissioned 7 October, 1968. She is over 57 years old and her Malaysian crew has just completed a voyage from Baltimore, across the Atlantic, through the Straits of Gibraltar, across the Mediterranean, through the Suez Canal, down the length of the Red Sea, through the Gulf of Aden, across the Indian Ocean, and through the Strait of Malacca.
How did that happen? The Coast Guard has been recapitalizing its fleet and as a result a lot of vessels became excess property. Rather than incur the cost of scrapping these now over age ships, the Coast Guard has set up a command at Curtis Bay that works with the Coast Guard Yard to prepare these ships for transfer to the navies and coast guards of friendly nations making sure the ships are seaworthy and the crews are adequately trained.
Two 210 foot Medium Endurance Cutters, Courageous and Durable, were decommissioned in September 2001. Courageous was transferred to Sri Lanka in 2004 and Durable was transferred to Colombia in 2003. Since March 2023 five more WMEC210s have been decommissioned or placed in “in commission, special” status. Steadfast is the first of these five to be transferred to another user.
“The United States announced at the end of October that it plans to provide another retired cutter to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.”
22 of the Island class WPBs have been transferred to eight different nations including five to Ukraine where at least one was sunk in combat.
I visited the Coast Guard Yard in August 2024 with the intention of writing a post. I was very impressed, but other priorities got in the way. I have regretted not telling their story ever since.
I was told that from March to July 2024 a decommissioned arrived at the yard every nine days.
This is an important story and it deserves more attention.
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton offloads more than 76,140 lbs of illicit narcotics at Port Everglades, Florida, on August 25, 2025. This is the largest cocaine offload to date in Coast Guard history, with the assistance of partner agencies, during counterdrug operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo)
Below is a Coast Guard Headquarters news release. The question this report raises is why the big jump? Have we employed more resources? Do we have better intelligence? Better Air Search? Has the amount smuggled increased dramatically?
We always knew we could make more interceptions if more cutters were available, but I don’t think the number of cutters assigned has increased dramatically.
Clearly the smugglers have not been deterred from making attempts to meet the demand. Will FY2026 be an even bigger year?
This looks like a place for operations research.
Nov. 6, 2025
Coast Guard sets historic record with amount of cocaine seized in FY25
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Thursday it seized nearly 510,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean during fiscal year 2025 (FY25), the largest amount in the Service’s history.
On average, the Coast Guard seizes 167,000 pounds of cocaine annually. The amount seized in FY25 is over three times that amount, and equivalent to 193 million potentially lethal doses (1.2 grams), enough to endanger over half of the U.S. population. “The Coast Guard’s top priority is to achieve complete operational control of the U.S. border and maritime approaches,” said Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard. “We own the sea, and this historic amount of cocaine seized shows we are defeating narco-terrorist and cartel operations to protect our communities and keep dangerous drugs off our streets.”
Detecting and interdicting narco-terrorism on the high seas involves significant interagency and international coordination. U.S. Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force-South, based in Key West, Florida, detects and monitors both aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs. Once interdiction becomes imminent, the law enforcement phase of the operation begins, and control of the operation shifts to the U.S. Coast Guard throughout the interdiction and apprehension.
The Coast Guard is the United States’ lead federal agency for maritime drug interdiction. We are part of the Department of Homeland Security team protecting our nation and are at all times a military service and part of the joint force defending it.
When I started this series about some of the weapons I thought would be most appropriate for cutters, I knew one of the choices would be a larger caliber gun equipped with air-burst munitions, but I was thinking 30mm. That is still an option, but the 50mm would be, oh, so much better for engaging every possible threat, and here we have evidence it may be much better for engaging UAS, extending the range so that it is not only capable of self-defense but can also protect other assets.
WHAT ABOUT THE 57MM? While the Webber class WPCs probably could accept a 57mm Mk110, the guns and ammunition are very expensive and the gun weighs about eight tons plus the weight of ammunition and fire control. The 50mm is probably the largest caliber that could be added without a major rebuild.
Comparison of 50mm Bushmaster III with the 30mm Bushmaster II. By comparison the 25mm’s length over all is 105.2 in (2.672 m) and its barrel length is 85.6 in (2.175 m)
U.S. defense firm Northrop Grumman is testing higher caliber cannon rounds to shoot down drones at a lower cost, based on feedback from Ukrainian Soldiers who are increasingly facing swarms of high-flying unmanned aircraft, a top company executive told Reuters.
What they are looking at is improving a successful system by using a large caliber gun to increase its effective range. (See the video above.)
“They love the (anti-drone) system. They want more range because they want to shoot these things down further out, which completely makes sense … So we’re taking that feedback,” …Northrop Grumman’s Bushmaster cannon uses 25 mm and 40 mm rounds and could shoot down drones up to a 3-mile distance but increasing the caliber to 50 mm would significantly broaden the range, even five-fold, O’Bryan said
It has been years since we talked about the 50mm version of the chain gun, but it really looks like a significant step up from the 25mm, and yet it is appears to be doable.
The 50mm has about twice the effective range of the 25mm. The weight of the projectile is about ten times greater. It might even be possible to make an ALaMO version of the 50mm round. It would also probably be more accurate. Certainly the kill radius when the shell bursts is much greater. Currently I don’t believe there is an airburst round for the 25mm.
These are the previous posts discussing this weapon:
Right now the 50mm XM913 is an Army project, but it is going to be made in large numbers as it will arm the replacement for the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV). The 50mm XM913 is the latest version of the chain gun series, which includes the M242 25x137mm Bushmaster Chain Gun that is used in the Mk38 machine gun mount that arms many Coast Guard cutter. Users of the new weapon would benefit from weapon training and maintenance commonality with the M242.
We might be able to get the Navy’s attention if we prototype the first installations on the PATFORSWA WPCs.
French Soldiers board the Russian shadow fleet vessel the Boracay in September 2025. The ship has been sanctioned by the European Union and the United Kingdom, and its crew may be linked to drone incursions in Denmark. AFP/GETTY IMAGES
NORTHCOM’s online magazine, The Watch, reports,
French authorities boarded an oil tanker off the coast of France and arrested senior crew members in September 2025. The ship is suspected to be part of Russia’s illicit shadow fleet and was known to be just off the coast of Denmark when drone incursions disrupted Danish airports last month, leading to media speculation that the ship’s crew may have been involved in the incident. French President Emmanuel Macron said at a European Union summit in Copenhagen on October 1 that the ship’s crew had committed “serious wrongdoings,” prompting France to stop the vessel as it rounded the country’s northwestern coast.
Drones launched from ships offshore are a developing threat that may be used by terrorists or a near peer at the beginning of a conflict.
The Coast Guard will likely have a role in countering this threat.
The U.N. human rights chief said Friday that U.S. military strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean allegedly carrying illegal drugs from South America are “unacceptable” and must stop.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for an investigation into the strikes, in what appeared to mark the first such condemnation of its kind from a United Nations organization.
Significantly this is the last of the 16 WLBs to complete a Major Maintenance Availability. Which class will be next, the WLMs?
Watch the video. Always nice to see the crew reunite with their families.
Oct. 30, 2025
Coast Guard cutter arrives at new homeport in Honolulu after restorative maintenance
Coast Guard Oceania District External Affairs – (808) 265-7748
Editor’s note: Click here to download video. Click here to download photos.
HONOLULU — The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Hollyhock (WLB 214) arrived at their new homeport in Honolulu Oct. 14 after 806 days of restorative maintenance.
The primary mission of the Hollyhock, a 225-foot Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender, is to maintain and deploy aids to navigation within the navigable waters of the main Hawaiian Islands, American Samoa, and Midway Atoll, servicing buoys that mark shipping channels, ports and hazardous areas.
Additionally, the Hollyhock’s presence in the region will support Operation Blue Pacific, the Coast Guard’s initiative to promote security, safety, sovereignty, and economic prosperity in Oceania. While deployed, the cutter’s crew will conduct law enforcement, fisheries boardings, and support maritime safety through the servicing of navigational aids throughout the region in cooperation with allies and partners.
Commissioned in 2003, the Hollyhock was originally homeported in Port Huron, Michigan, before entering maintenance at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore on July 31, 2023.
The Hollyhock crew departed for Honolulu on Aug. 31, 2025.
“The crew is excited to arrive in Honolulu and support critical operations throughout Oceania,” said Cmdr. Jessica McCollum, commanding officer of the Hollyhock. “Our arrival enhances the Coast Guard’s capacity to maintain vital navigational aids that facilitate the safe flow of maritime commerce. This is especially crucial in Hawaii, where more than 90% of goods arrive by sea.”
The Hollyhock is the last of the Coast Guard’s 16 seagoing buoy tenders to complete the major maintenance availability (MMA) program, ensuring the cutter achieves its full 30-years of designated service.
Maintenance work included completion of hull and structural repairs and replacement of obsolete, unsupportable or intensive maintenance equipment, including updates to the machinery control system, propellers, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
The MMA is part of the Coast Guard’s In-Service Vessel Sustainment (ISVS) program, a strategic class-by-class evaluation offering the most cost-effective solution for delivering essential maintenance and upgrades, ensuring Coast Guard surface vessels meet or exceed their expected service life.
We discussed formation of this new task force earlier when it was first announced but this report goes into greater depth. There really is no clarification of how this new JTF and JIATF-S will interact, though this report raises that question also.
I would like to point out that the four key objectives of the new JTF were all also activities carried out by JIATF-S:
Identifying narcotics trafficking patterns to interdict illegal shipments of narcotics before they reach the U.S. and partner-nation territories using intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft.
Expanding real-time intelligence fusion among U.S. military, federal law enforcement, and partner-nation agencies.
Conducting joint training to improve interoperability among U.S. military services and increase rapid-response posture.
Enhancing partner-nation counter narcotics operations capacity through advisory teams and combined operations.
The only real difference seems to be that the new JTF is not offering any opportunity for the boat crews to surrender. Thinking back, I can’t remember a case where smugglers exchanged gun fire with a Coast Guard boarding party, since the end of Prohibition.
The legality of the strikes on boats allegedly carrying drugs is being hotly debated and is thought by many to be the reason for the early resignation of SOUTHCOM commander Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey. Neither Admiral Holsey nor DOD has made any public statement on his reasons for stepping down.
Thanks to David for bringing this to my attention.
ATLANTIC OCEAN—A Longbow Hellfire Missile is fired from Littoral Combat Ship USS Detroit (LCS 7) on Feb. 28 2017 as part of a structural test firing of the Surface to Surface Missile Module (SSMM). The test marked the first vertical missile launched from an LCS and the first launch of a missile from the SSMM from an LCS. (Photo by U.S. Navy)
There is precedence for this, in that the Navy has equipped Littoral Combat Ships with Longbow Hellfire.
Like APKWS, Hellfire has demonstrated success against UAS and small watercraft. With a 20 pound warhead, it should be more effective than APKWS against shipping, but its ability to stop larger vessels is still limited, although it might be able to target selected parts of the ship (bridge, steering gear, engine room) using semi-active laser homing.
In some ways Hellfire and APKWS are similar. In their original form both were guided to their target by a reflected laser beam. Both were developed specifically for one type of target but were found useful for a variety of targets. Both have been used to take down UAS and have had some success against lower altitude sub-sonic aircraft in the surface to air mode.
Hellfire is now more than 40 years old and has seen progressive improvements. APKWS adds a recently developed guidance section to previously unguided rockets developed during World War II. Both weapons are now being made in huge numbers.
Costs are around $30K for an APKWS, about $150K for the current Hellfire, and over $300K for a JAGM MR.
Ranges are approximately 5,000 yards for the APKWS; 8,700 yards for the current Hellfire; and 17,500 yards for the JAGM MR.
Weight varies for APKWS, but a typical weight is 32 pounds. Weight for Hellfire and JAGM is 108 pounds.
Hellfire/JAGM are bigger and more expensive so you are probably going to have fewer of them, but with the improvements (dual or triple seeker, new propellant) it will perform better, particularly in conditions of poor visibility, and will have a greater range. The latest JAGM MR has a range of 16km. It would be a significant asset even for the NSCs and OPCs, providing an upgrade in Anti-Air as well as Anti-Surface capability.
While the original Hellfire would be a major improvement, the JAGM MR would give us both the dual seekers of the Longbow Hellfire and greater range.
JAGM’s multi-mode seeker provides an improved Semi-Active Laser (SAL) sensor for precision-strike and a fire-and-forget Millimeter Wave (MMW) radar for moving targets in all-weather conditions. These new sensors have been integrated into the JAGM guidance section and mated with the AGM-114R missile bus and demonstrated during multiple guided flight tests.
Fire-and-forget engagement modes significantly increase JAGM user survivability against threat defenses in GPS denied and austere communications environments. JAGM can engage multiple stationary and moving targets, in the presence of adverse weather, battlefield obscurants and advanced countermeasures. Laser and radar guided engagement modes allow JAGM users to strike accurately across wide target sets and reduce collateral damage.
While we might see Hellfire/JAGM or APKWS as an either or choice, some remote weapon stations might be able to handle both.
Interim Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense (IM-SHORAD)
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 