PIRATES DECLARE THEY INTEND TO RETALIATE! Oh my...

We could make those shippers pay the US tribute. Collect 'protection' money from them, only board and collect from every ship, not just a few slow weakly defended ships, here and there. That might be a way to pay down our national debt.

Or they could be held responsible to pay for their own private security. I hear there are some highly qualified blackwater folks who will be looking for employment soon. And, they have a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later, which is precisely what is needed here. They also have first rate equipment and training.
If the Black water (XE ?) guys will take the massive paycut from being US taxpayer subsidized bodyguards to standing guard on ships. They'll be paid deckhand base rate. Shippers are as cheap as retail chains.
I smell a movie.......Magniifcent Seven redone on the high seas......7 Blackwater guards, expert hired guns, laid off.....now working for peanuts, hired by merchant marine to fight off the desperate pirates.....throw in some sappy love scenes, a few good shootouts. And a sequel, if we can make the piracy last a few more years.
 
I certainly agree with stepped up naval patrols.

But I wonder why they don't just arm the ships? A couple 50 calibers on deck you'd think would provide the best deterrent to additional pirate attacks.
Some nations do not allow ships registered under their flag to carry arms. Many shipping companies do not have arms aboard their vesels for insurance reasons, and because many owners consider having arms aboard to be themselves a danger to the security of the crew. A lot of emotionally unstable kooks out there, on land and at sea...where there is no place to run from that crazy effer who has gone off his rocker and has a gun.
In pirate filled waters. they obviously require better protection. Professional protection.
Not just weapons, people who are properly trained.

It actually goes further than that. Some countries do not allow civilian ships to carry arms in their waters. If they inspect the ship and find arms, you are in a world of trouble. The only reasonable thing I can come up with is if a security group like Blackwater comes up with a "Security Plan" for shipping companies. They send a team with a couple of .50 cals and a portable hard mount to affix to the ship a couple of M240s to carry around and about a half dozen security personal to man them.

Once the ship is in International waters, the helo lands on deck with its equipment and men. They stay on the ship while it transits the danger area. Then the helo comes back picks up it stuff and drops them on the next ship going the other way.

Hey!!! I think I want a meeting with the Blackwater marketing ppl!....:cool:
Souinds expensive. Who is gonna pay for all that ?
 
Some nations do not allow ships registered under their flag to carry arms. Many shipping companies do not have arms aboard their vesels for insurance reasons, and because many owners consider having arms aboard to be themselves a danger to the security of the crew. A lot of emotionally unstable kooks out there, on land and at sea...where there is no place to run from that crazy effer who has gone off his rocker and has a gun.
In pirate filled waters. they obviously require better protection. Professional protection.
Not just weapons, people who are properly trained.

It actually goes further than that. Some countries do not allow civilian ships to carry arms in their waters. If they inspect the ship and find arms, you are in a world of trouble. The only reasonable thing I can come up with is if a security group like Blackwater comes up with a "Security Plan" for shipping companies. They send a team with a couple of .50 cals and a portable hard mount to affix to the ship a couple of M240s to carry around and about a half dozen security personal to man them.

Once the ship is in International waters, the helo lands on deck with its equipment and men. They stay on the ship while it transits the danger area. Then the helo comes back picks up it stuff and drops them on the next ship going the other way.

Hey!!! I think I want a meeting with the Blackwater marketing ppl!....:cool:
Souinds expensive. Who is gonna pay for all that ?

all of us, eventually.
 
Some nations do not allow ships registered under their flag to carry arms. Many shipping companies do not have arms aboard their vesels for insurance reasons, and because many owners consider having arms aboard to be themselves a danger to the security of the crew. A lot of emotionally unstable kooks out there, on land and at sea...where there is no place to run from that crazy effer who has gone off his rocker and has a gun.
In pirate filled waters. they obviously require better protection. Professional protection.
Not just weapons, people who are properly trained.

It actually goes further than that. Some countries do not allow civilian ships to carry arms in their waters. If they inspect the ship and find arms, you are in a world of trouble. The only reasonable thing I can come up with is if a security group like Blackwater comes up with a "Security Plan" for shipping companies. They send a team with a couple of .50 cals and a portable hard mount to affix to the ship a couple of M240s to carry around and about a half dozen security personal to man them.

Once the ship is in International waters, the helo lands on deck with its equipment and men. They stay on the ship while it transits the danger area. Then the helo comes back picks up it stuff and drops them on the next ship going the other way.

Hey!!! I think I want a meeting with the Blackwater marketing ppl!....:cool:
Souinds expensive. Who is gonna pay for all that ?

The shippers will add 12.5 cents per pound to everything they ship through the area to pay for the security. This isn't rocket science, just look to what the airlines did when fuel costs went up. This is just another cost that needs to be accounted for. Maybe they will charge a "security surcharge" to entities wishing to send stuff through the region.
 
Send over a couple of helo carriers (like they have now), or, better yet.....the USS NASHVILLE, you know......the one with the Bushmaster weapon that fires magnetic shells that can be programmed to explode in midair (nice weapon by the way, will fire over 100 rpm).

Send up a couple of Predator and Reaper drones (the Reaper is the one equipped with Hellfire missiles). When a pirate ship is seen to come within 10 miles of a commercial vessel, blow 'em into kindling and fish food.

And.......since my service isn't allowed to use that island over in Puerto Rico as a target anymore......what the hell.........ships going over to Iraq and Iran need target practice.

I'd say Somalia (the entire fucking country, people included) looks like a good place to fire off a couple of conventional rounds. Hey.....we Sailors need practice time too!
 
Some nations do not allow ships registered under their flag to carry arms. Many shipping companies do not have arms aboard their vesels for insurance reasons, and because many owners consider having arms aboard to be themselves a danger to the security of the crew. A lot of emotionally unstable kooks out there, on land and at sea...where there is no place to run from that crazy effer who has gone off his rocker and has a gun.
In pirate filled waters. they obviously require better protection. Professional protection.
Not just weapons, people who are properly trained.

It actually goes further than that. Some countries do not allow civilian ships to carry arms in their waters. If they inspect the ship and find arms, you are in a world of trouble. The only reasonable thing I can come up with is if a security group like Blackwater comes up with a "Security Plan" for shipping companies. They send a team with a couple of .50 cals and a portable hard mount to affix to the ship a couple of M240s to carry around and about a half dozen security personal to man them.

Once the ship is in International waters, the helo lands on deck with its equipment and men. They stay on the ship while it transits the danger area. Then the helo comes back picks up it stuff and drops them on the next ship going the other way.

Hey!!! I think I want a meeting with the Blackwater marketing ppl!....:cool:
Souinds expensive. Who is gonna pay for all that ?

use the money you were paying in ransom.....and of course the delay time of being a hostage costs money....
 
Lets see..........the pirates were asking for 2 million for the Maersk captain........

That amount would probably pay for escort service for a month.
 
Send over a couple of helo carriers (like they have now), or, better yet.....the USS NASHVILLE, you know......the one with the Bushmaster weapon that fires magnetic shells that can be programmed to explode in midair (nice weapon by the way, will fire over 100 rpm).

Send up a couple of Predator and Reaper drones (the Reaper is the one equipped with Hellfire missiles). When a pirate ship is seen to come within 10 miles of a commercial vessel, blow 'em into kindling and fish food.

And.......since my service isn't allowed to use that island over in Puerto Rico as a target anymore......what the hell.........ships going over to Iraq and Iran need target practice.

I'd say Somalia (the entire fucking country, people included) looks like a good place to fire off a couple of conventional rounds. Hey.....we Sailors need practice time too!

It's time to recommission the Battleships New Jersey and Iowa. Start heaving VW sized shells into their ports.

I'm not sure I would waste a Hellfire on pirate skiff, maybe a "mothership" though. Doesn't the Navy have Apaches or Cobras or something? Maybe the Marines off of one of their support ships. Those would be nice to cover a chunk of ocean with. Drop some 20mm HE on the skiffs.
 
Why risk a pilot when a Reaper will do the job nicely?

You also realize that they can detect things up to a 250 mile radius, right? So........patrol the gulf with about 10 or so.........

Work REAL nice!
 
Why risk a pilot when a Reaper will do the job nicely?

You also realize that they can detect things up to a 250 mile radius, right? So........patrol the gulf with about 10 or so.........

Work REAL nice!

I'm not saying do one and not the other. Bring all the toys. There's a time and place for everything. You could use Predator to id targets approaching a ship and I think an ideal role for the attack helos is to disrupt an attack in progress. I'm not sure Reaper, being one shot would be as effective in that role. 3 or 4 Apaches swarming around the pirates would be VERY effective though.
 
It is definitely brute force time with this issue. These people aren't terrorist with political goals, that takes a ton of issues of the table. There is no diplomacy to be engaged. Just dealing with criminals. Alot of good suggestions here and I'm sure these things are all being looked at. There will be action to put an end to this.
 
Why risk a pilot when a Reaper will do the job nicely?

You also realize that they can detect things up to a 250 mile radius, right? So........patrol the gulf with about 10 or so.........

Work REAL nice!

I'm not saying do one and not the other. Bring all the toys. There's a time and place for everything. You could use Predator to id targets approaching a ship and I think an ideal role for the attack helos is to disrupt an attack in progress. I'm not sure Reaper, being one shot would be as effective in that role. 3 or 4 Apaches swarming around the pirates would be VERY effective though.

Reapers ARE NOT just one shot.......

Specifications
Image:Aero-stub img.svgThis aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.
MQ-9 Reaper taxis.

Several minor variations of the RQ-9/MQ-9 exist; these values are indicative.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

* Contractor: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Incorporated
* Crew(remote): 2 (Pilot plus a sensor operator)[43]
* Landing Type: runway
* Launch Type: runway
* Power Plant: Honeywell TP331-10T turboprop engine, 950 SHP (712 kW)
* Fuel Capacity: 1815 kg (4,000 lb)
* Length: 11 m (36 ft)
* Wingspan: 20 m (66 ft)
* Height: 3.8 m (12.5 ft)
* Empty weight: 2223 kg (4,900 lb)
* Max takeoff weight: 4760 kg (10,500 lb)[44]

PERFORMANCE

* Service ceiling: 15 km (50,000 ft)
* Operational altitude: 7.5 km (25,000 ft) [45]
* Endurance: 14–28 hours (14 hours fully loaded) [46]
* Range: 5,926 km (3,200 nmi, 3,682 mi)
* Payload: 3,750 lb (1,700 kg)
* Maximum speed: 482 km/h (300 mph, 260 knots)
* Cruise speed: 276-313 km/h (172-195 mph, 150-170 knots) [47]

ARMAMENT

* 6 Hardpoints
o 1,500 lb (680 kg) on the two inboard weapons stations
o 500–600 lb (230–270 kg) on the two middle stations
o 150–200 lb (68–91 kg) on the outboard stations

* Up to 14x AGM-114 Hellfire air to ground missiles can be carried or four Hellfire missiles and two 500 lb (230 kg) GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs. The ability to carry the JDAM in the future is also possible, as well as the AIM-9 Sidewinder.

SENSORS

* AN/APY-8 Lynx II radar[48]
* MTS-B

COST

* Unit cost: USD 6.5 million for one aircraft with sensors [49]

MQ-9 Reaper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Besides.........Apaches for all their use over ground aren't as good as Reapers and Predators are over the sea.

And.........no risk to pilot, and 6.5 million is a hell of a lot cheaper than an Apache Longbow D.

Cheaper to operate as well, or did you not hear about the recession?
 
My bad for not staying on top of it. That sounds pretty compelling. I wish they could mount a chin gun on it though. It would be a nice video game for the operators too....:lol:

Maybe you can do it all with drones. True about ops costs, but your ordinance costs are going to be higher if you have to shoot Hellfires at everything.
 
Somalia have more guns than cattle. They think if they haVe the US military in Mogapiratissue they could win a battle.
 
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My bad for not staying on top of it. That sounds pretty compelling. I wish they could mount a chin gun on it though. It would be a nice video game for the operators too....:lol:

Maybe you can do it all with drones. True about ops costs, but your ordinance costs are going to be higher if you have to shoot Hellfires at everything.

Actually, they can mount Gatling guns (3,000 rpm) on their hard points (the weapons stations), as well as other things.

And.......a pod of Hellfires ain't really that expensive. Check out the Military Channel sometime and watch FutureWeapons.
 
My bad for not staying on top of it. That sounds pretty compelling. I wish they could mount a chin gun on it though. It would be a nice video game for the operators too....:lol:

Maybe you can do it all with drones. True about ops costs, but your ordinance costs are going to be higher if you have to shoot Hellfires at everything.

Actually, they can mount Gatling guns (3,000 rpm) on their hard points (the weapons stations), as well as other things.

And.......a pod of Hellfires ain't really that expensive. Check out the Military Channel sometime and watch FutureWeapons.

I'm surprised about both of those. I wouldn't have thought a drone would have the ass to support a gattling gun. I just remember watching an A-10 fire its gun and how it slowed it etc. But things in the air and things that float are a little out of my wheelhouse.

I'm an infantry guy. More at home in the mud and in my Bradley. That's the only Bushmaster I know. The 25 mm main gun of the Bradley. :lol:
 
Coolest thing about the Bushmaster is their magnetic shells that can explode in midair.

Watched that thing fire off 5 shots once and swiss cheesed a van as well as totally destroyed 2 wooden dummies.

Nice weapon!
 
Couple of points we seem to have forgotten here people. I’m all for taking out the wasp’s nest, rather than swatting them one by one, but to date – and including the four vessels captured today – the pirates are holding 17 ships and almost 300 crew members. Surely those crew members must be the first priority before we flatten the pirate hub town of Eyl, where it is believed the hostages are held. In my view that would require a special forces op. SBS, SAS, SEALS.

Secondly, the pirates are operating further and further south of Somalia. The targeted area now encompasses over a quarter of the Indian Ocean! Now, those of you who have sailed through those seas will know that is one motherload of ocean to cover with patrols. In fact, it’s probably impossible to police effectively. This in itself seems to support the argument for attacking the hub.

So, as you can see, it ain’t simply a case of going in with all guns blazing. Not unless, of course, you are prepared to sacrifice 300 hostages.
 
Couple of points we seem to have forgotten here people. I’m all for taking out the wasp’s nest, rather than swatting them one by one, but to date – and including the four vessels captured today – the pirates are holding 17 ships and almost 300 crew members. Surely those crew members must be the first priority before we flatten the pirate hub town of Eyl, where it is believed the hostages are held. In my view that would require a special forces op. SBS, SAS, SEALS.

Secondly, the pirates are operating further and further south of Somalia. The targeted area now encompasses over a quarter of the Indian Ocean! Now, those of you who have sailed through those seas will know that is one motherload of ocean to cover with patrols. In fact, it’s probably impossible to police effectively. This in itself seems to support the argument for attacking the hub.

So, as you can see, it ain’t simply a case of going in with all guns blazing. Not unless, of course, you are prepared to sacrifice 300 hostages.

Most of the hostages are Filipino. Which is why the VP of the Philippines was out this week pleading that if we do anything we ensure the safety of the hostages as a first priority.

You forgot Delta Force. I'm sure just an oversight. These are not hardcore terrorists for the most part. My uninformed guess is that, provided we can sneak in (which we can) and get good intel (which we can), we could mount a proper special ops assault to free the hostages. The key will be coming in large enough to ensure a bridgehead back to the boats 'cuz that's the only way to bring out 300 people plus your assault force.

That sounds like SEALS and Marines taking and securing the harbor/port whatever with heavy gunboat support to ensure that once taken, it is held for the duration. Delta doing the assault and and getting the hostages and Rangers securing the area and providing support/firepower where needed. The Marines would then project from their area toward the hostage area with sufficient force to link up with the Delta/Ranger/Hostage contingent.

This might be a mess with hardened terrorists, but if executed with sufficient violence of action and at night, it should be successful.
 

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