Pirates and Navy, A Link Salad

[chris_gerrib]

As I posted yesterday on Facebook, the USN and USMC re-captured a pirated ship off the Somali coast. The link, from the always-interesting Information Dissemination, provides additional detail not found in most general media outlets, including the level of international involvement and the distinct lack of appetite on the pirates' part to get into a gunfight with the US Marine Corps. Most people who elect to shoot it out with the Marines lose the election.

ETA: First-hand report by Marine Boarding Officer-in-Charge

Also via Information Dissemination, I find a link to the US Naval Institute's blog about the now-open Northeast Passage. With global warming reducing the Arctic summer ice, commercial carriers (in this case, a bulker carrying iron ore) are now starting to make the trip to China via the Arctic Ocean.

Now, I am not a fan of the US Navy's decision to build Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), and I've blogged about that before (including saying what we should be building). Well, the guys at Information Dissemination have put up a post, entitled Red Flags Everywhere, which completely demolishes the LCS concept. Basically, endurance, firepower and armor have all been sacrificed at the altar of speed.

I was once told that the perfect weapon was an easily-deployed system that made all your enemies come out with their hands up while whistling your national anthem. Since we don't live anywhere near perfect, as the commercial says, all weapons systems are compromises. The LCS appears to have compromised too much to get speed - speed that's not militarily useful.

Comments

[pyropyga.livejournal.com]

If that article would actually spell 'altar' correctly once I wouldn't be twitching nearly so much while reading it.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

Sorry - I didn't catch the error.

[pyropyga.livejournal.com]

You rendered it correctly yourself, but the article on ID consistently screws it up. Ah well.

I, for one, would be curious to learn what sort of ship-building you think the USN should be doing.

[pyropyga.livejournal.com]

Wooops, I see now that you actually address ship-building preferences in your link to your prior LCS reaction. My error!