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Africa Horn
NATO anti-piracy force in Somalia within days
2008-10-23
...now with Rules of Engagement™!
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A NATO anti-piracy force will arrive off the coast of Somalia in the next few days with clear rules on how it can take on high-seas bandits, NATO said on Wednesday.

The commander of the force, U.S. Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, told reporters on Tuesday the alliance had still not provided him with rules of engagement."They will arrive in the coming days," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said of the anti-piracy ships."They will have the rules of engagement that they need ... they will know exactly what they need to do and how they should do it," Appathurai told a regular news conference, adding the rules of engagement, including how and when the mission could use force, would be agreed within a day or two.

Six NATO members have contributed ships, including destroyers and frigates, to a special anti-piracy task force following a request from the United Nations. The NATO group passed through the Suez Canal last week on its way to the Horn of Africa, where piracy has surged this year, with more than 30 ships seized and ransoms estimated at $18-$30 million have been paid to free hostages. Appathurai said the group was facing very heavy seas, which had slowed it down.

Asked what the NATO group would be able to do, Appathurai said: "This is a very, very complicated thing to do ... pirates don't identify themselves with eye-patches and crooked-hands, it isn't always immediately obvious that they are pirates."
Kill everything that says "Yarrrrrrr!"
"There will be a number of very competent and very effective military ships coordinating with each other as appropriate to provide presence, to provide deterrence and where necessary and possible to intervene. I don't know how the pirates will react to this."
Probably lay low until they leave. They can't stay forever.
Posted by:tu3031

#7  Sounds like the US Navy has discovered an incidental testing ground for UAV/USV armed escort and recce, "mother ship", etc. battlespace concepts - VIETNAM-ERA RIVERINE PATROL FORCE MEETS "STAR WARS"???

ION US NAVY > the USN is reportedly intent on DEV NEW STRATEGIC OPERATIONS CONCEPTS, e.g. establishment of FUTURIST "GLOBAL FLEET STATIONS" in select regions.

Read, OWG-NWO + SPACE OPERATIONS NEW MISSIONS SCOPES.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2008-10-23 21:02  

#6  You're talking 'response' when you haven't reached the initial stages first.

You still have to find the boat. Radar - maybe.

You still have to ID the boat and its cargo. How do you do that if there's a tarp? IR? Perhaps/ What if it's a boatload of illegal immigrants enroute to Yemen? (and before you bozos say "screw 'em", remember that's it's a damn good way to end the anti-piracy operation very) early).

No, this is going to have to be more painstaking, at first.
Posted by: Pappy   2008-10-23 20:51  

#5  Warships are NOT the vessel of choice for this engagement. What is needed is a squadron of AC-130s who can come in and fire on a small boat on the water AND HIT IT, with a fast-reaction time, lots of loiter capability, and good radar/radio assets. Ships are too slow. Even at 35 knots, it'll take a ship several hours to close with a ship even a hundred miles away, while an AC-130 can be there in half an hour.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2008-10-23 17:34  

#4  The leadership needs to watch a few episodes of COPS to get the 'suspicious' behavior ROE to pull the perp over. Make note of failure to have proper operating lights...

Therein lies the glitch. The motherships will likely be operating with proper running lights and look like any other fishing or small cargo vessel. If not, the naval assets are going to be spending a lot of time boarding and searching any ship that could be a mothership. And that requires either an agressive set of orders, an international mandate (similar to the Iraqi embargo), or simply ignoring long-established maritime law.

Small boats however, are another matter. I don't know if you've ever sailed in that area, but there's lots of small craft. There aren't enough naval assets to stop and search every one of them.
Also, IIUC, the small boats used by the pirates are either carried aboard or trailed behind the mothership, and released only when there is a target in sight.

So we're back to finding the motherships.
Posted by: Pappy   2008-10-23 16:31  

#3  hit enter too quick,, should be:
"Or they could crib some notes from the LTTE engagement ROE. that seemed to work fairly well."
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2008-10-23 14:44  

#2  Or they could crib some notes from the LTTE
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2008-10-23 14:42  

#1   "This is a very, very complicated thing to do ... pirates don't identify themselves with eye-patches and crooked-hands, it isn't always immediately obvious that they are pirates."

Firing on registered merchantmen usually is a clear sign of identity. The leadership needs to watch a few episodes of COPS to get the 'suspicious' behavior ROE to pull the perp over. Make note of failure to have proper operating lights. "Sir, you're missing the appropriate red and green lights operating in a major traffic lane." Ask for registration and license and proof of insurance. "Please, step out of the vehicle here for the interview".
Posted by: Procopius2k   2008-10-23 11:58  

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