Posted on 04/15/2009 12:12:08 PM PDT by Onelifetogive
The solution to the world's pirate problem may be made in Mobile.
The dramatic showdown between the U.S. Navy and a group of Somalian pirates ended badly for the buccaneers, but military experts say it also demonstrated that the Navy is ill-equipped to deal with a growing threat to global commerce.
That's chiefly because the Navy lacks the sort of fast, flexible vessel that can chase pirates where they roam, the so-called "green" waters within 100 or so miles of shore.
Enter Austal USA's littoral combat ship, a swift, agile and lethal vessel that may be a pirate's worst nightmare. A prototype of the sleek and menacing ship is docked at Austal's Mobile River shipyard, where it is being prepared for delivery to the Navy later this year.
Old salts would call it a corvette — a versatile sloop born in sailing's Golden Age to patrol coastlines and escort merchant vessels through shipping lanes.
But the modern version is a marvel of innovation: Austal's ship, The Independence, can roar from zero to 50 knots in minutes. Its trimaran hull keeps it stable in rough seas and enables it to chase enemies into water as shallow as 20 feet.
Described by Popular Mechanics magazine as a "speedboat on steroids," the cutting-edge warship can sweep mines, track submarines and launch helicopters from its stern deck.
On its bow is the baddest gun in Alabama: a 57 mm cannon that can fire 220 rounds a minute, with computer-controlled precision and a nine-mile range.
The LCS is "an ideal platform" to counter pirates, Rear Adm. Victor Guillory, director of the Navy's surface-warfare division, told Congress last month.
The Navy is evaluating two versions of the LCS — the other is produced by Lockheed Martin Corp. in Wisconsin — and ultimately wants to buy 55 of one or both to fill out its fleet.
Both teams are trying to rein in costs that have more than doubled the Pentagon's original estimate of $220 million per ship. The overruns are primarily due to an endless series of design changes imposed by the Navy, leading powerful critics, including U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Bay St. Louis, to call for the program to be scuttled.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, however, reaffirmed his commitment to the LCS program as part of his proposed 2010 defense budget.
Gates, who announced plans to purchase three of the ships next year, said the LCS "has a capability that we just have to have. ... It would have enormous value against fast boats like we see, for example, in the Persian Gulf."
The recent standoff involving the Maersk Alabama illustrated that need.
After an unsuccessful attempt to hijack the U.S.-flagged cargo ship, a group of teenage pirates took Capt. Richard Phillips hostage and fled in a lifeboat. The Navy dispatched the USS Bainbridge, a guided missile destroyer, to confront the brigands — the naval equivalent of swatting a gnat with a sledgehammer.
"So we end up with the spectacle of an American destroyer, the Bainbridge, with enough Tomahawk missiles and other weaponry to destroy a small city, facing off against a handful of Somali pirates in a tiny lifeboat," defense analyst Robert Kaplan wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times. "This is not an efficient use of American resources."
Kaplan, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, D.C., said the LCS would be the Navy's best tool for fighting pirates but argued that a fleet of 55 isn't nearly enough. The Gulf of Aden alone — just one of many piracy hotspots around the globe — is more than a million square miles, an area four times the size of Texas.
"Yes, these fast, maneuverable ships have low drafts and are thus suited for many different kinds of unorthodox missions close to shore," Kaplan wrote. "But the oceans are vast, and ships cannot be in two places at once. Without sufficient numbers of them, it's hard to believe that they will make much of a difference."
More ships would mean more jobs in Mobile. Austal already employs more than 1,000 at its local shipyard and could double that total if it wins additional orders for its LCS. In addition to Gates, the company could soon gain a high-powered advocate at the Pentagon in Bob Work, a respected naval analyst nominated by President Barack Obama to become Under Secretary of the Navy.
Work told defense blogger David Axe in a recent interview that he views the LCS as key to the Navy's future.
"I firmly believe that if the first two (prototypes) deliver on the performance that the Navy has asked them to have, the LCS is going to be one of best deals the U.S. Navy has made since World War II," Work said.
Not sure what to think.
Sounds like an awesome ship...
Austal's ship, The Independence, can roar from zero to 50 knots in minutes...
On its bow is the baddest gun in Alabama: a 57 mm cannon that can fire 220 rounds a minute, with computer-controlled precision and a nine-mile range.
Bama ping!
ONE WUP ASS MACHINE! ! ! !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_class_hydrofoil
They had a perfect solution but they were decommissioned in the 90’s.
Seems to be a 2009 version of the old PT boat. Small, very fast, armed beyond its size, and nothing to argue with.
You complete the task at hand with the appropriate tools. The Bainbridge showed you don’t need an elephant to squish a mouse.
How many of these for the $$$$$ of a carrier?? Different tool for different jobs.
A PT Boat on steroids.
WAAAAY overkill for these pests. Pirates have to get close to take over a ship. A few men standing watch with 308 rifles can keep a few thugs in an open boat at bay. A few shots at their engine should disable them enough to be easily run over.
Let me tell you the weakness of these vessels. First..they rely on very light weight to go fast. Hence they have no ability to absorb any damage. Even a RPG would pierce the hull or superstructure. Second..they require lots of hp to go fast..so they burn a huge amount of fuel. And if you can guess..fuel is weight and they can’t carry a lot..so they have liimited range and limited staying power.
If they rely on helo’s and small boats to extend their reach..you might as well have a heavier longer legged vessel to support the helos and boats.
Cheaper solution: long-endurance Predator-type UAVs that can be launched from a base ship (not a super-carrier), patrol long stretches of water, and engage pirates with rocket and machinegun fire
All valid points. I’d like to add that in the current financial crisis, and with the Navy canceling their Littoral Combat Ship program, this Aussie tri-maran is a pipe-dream. Ain’t gonna happen.
But somebody tell me why we are not building fixed wing and rotary drones by the 100s...equip them with two or four missles each. Fly them off "pocket" carriers for fixed wing or back of destroyers for rotary. Relative to other methods discussed, they are cheap.
Then...simply "search and destroy". Keep them flying until a) all pirate vessels at sea are sunk and their "crews" killed and b) track outbound vessels back to launch points and destroy completely these points.
Were we to do this, I would predict that these scumbags will begin to kidnap innocent kids and women and put them into the "pirate vessels" so that when we sink the vessels, we kill the women and kids too.
Same thing with the shore launch points.
But until or unless that would happen, I think the use of drones should be encouraged.
I’ve thought the same thing. The manufacturer of the Predator designed a naval version (called the Mariner) to compete for the Navy’s BAMS program a couple of years ago. A carrier version was designed, with features such as arrestor gear, foldable wings and reinforced landing gear.Put this model into production, perhaps they could be operated from our Tarawa-class fleet (presently being decommissioned). Equip them with a navalized version of the Hellfire, or some other suitable naval munition, and turn them loose to patrol 24/7/365. When pirate activity is spotted, then it’s weapons free time. Fast, lethal response at a lower cost and no US lives at risk.
I think theold PT boat, with modern weapons would do the job for less money. This one looks like little over kill too.
barbra ann
Good Lord! Is it up to me to remind the Navy that it owns helicopters and jets!?
We need to have C-130s and C-17s LAPES fast attack boats into trouble areas.
And drones?
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