Pirating on the Seas Just Got Tougher

Waiting for the remote controlled tanks to be dropped in Syria and Iraq.

Not an expert but wouldn't some flying drones be more cost effective? cover a wider range and reach their target much faster.... weather effects could be one factor but then at sea when the weather goes bad it's the same for the water.

Just saw Captain Phillips. Appalled by the slow response time esp that the yanks have satellites and all the stuff to pin point anything, anywhere, on the earth surface and beyond....or is that a myth?

This seems pointless, other than to demonstrate that it can be done. A few shells fired across the bow would be a better warning and a few fired into the hull would be a simpler and cheaper way to blow up the pirate ship. If the pirates have shoulder-mounted rocket launchers (which seems a possibility) they could blow these out of the water.

So long as commercial and sightseeing ships travel dangerous waters unarmed there will be pirates ready to take advantage of them. I don't see how this fleet of drones is going to help get a bunch of hostages released

I agree with A-146 that flying drones would be more effective. Probably faster to deploy, too.

I can see how they might protect a larger ship - they might have protected the 'Cole' if they could have been deployed fast enough. They might also be useful to thwart illegal invasions from the sea, or to serve as rescue ships in very rough seas.

I agree, this isn't an 'unmanned patrol' system as much as it is a new 'outer ring' of the 'battle group' formation, allowing the outermost ships (the ones out there to be the first line of defense for the Carrier), a way to extend their vision and reach without tying up carrier resources for Civil Air patrols. Plus it means that the first ships hit in an attack are likely to not have any sailors on them, so no American lives are lost in the first salvo, only money.

drones don't come equipped with 50 cal machine guns

I think the swarm also has other weapons capabilities beyond just multiple 50 cals. However, 5 boats coming at you, all with multiple 50 cals will take out nearly any hostile, other than battle ready vessels. For those you will need something a wee tad bit larger.

the mother ship has that covered, you don't need a million dollar cruise missile to blow samoli thugs out of the water, this is far cheaper

Come on, Fredski, I did not think Somalis had anything like a battle-ready vessel. I don't disagree with what you are saying, but if you want to be a bully, do feel free, as I have experience with bullies. Thanks, Fredski for sharing a great thread with the rest of us ordinary citizens.

I think what I will want for when ISIS tries to invade my house (or the zombies from ebola) whichever comes first, is a swarm of helo-drones with TV cameras so I can prove to HLS (that demands only reports from "credible" sources) that we have been invaded by ISIS (or ebola zombies) whichever comes first. All I have to do is hit XMIT button before they kill me. BTW, at least 10 ISIS have been stopped at the Texas-Mexico Border, and there have been numerous other incidents where local ranchers have reported finding prayer shawls and copies of the Quran left lying on the ground by interlopers.

And the source of this information about the border is???

You must work for HLS. Fine don't believe me. Ranchers don't lie. The thing about 10 ISIS being caught at the border crossing was on FOX news today.

.. and what more credible source is there than Fox News?

Oh Fox news Well then it must be true! What I saw was that several Kurdish people had been caught and they happened to be from the same "tribe" that's fighting ISIS!

Thanks Fredski, good thread. I'm glad to see military thinking is not stagnant.

to expand...besides ship protection, this type of system can be deployed in bottlenecks to detour nefarious acts such as piracy without risking lives. in addition to that V-V or V2V is on our doorstep. this system proves it will work in our future cars as well when cars are autonomous, its right around the corner, this proves just how close it is

I am not too sure I like the idea of me riding in an autonomous car. I don't doubt it is close, based on the current age mindset of nanny state. I don't want some computer to malfunction and kill me in my sleep.

Gee whiz, professor! Thanks to Bob C and Fredski, I can go back to having nice dreams at night, instead of apocolypic visions of fire (and ice). I won't be buying a new car (or pickup) anytime soon. I think I will look for the oldest clunker I can find, and install my own flux capacitor.

Check with Lyn-Door Ind. for their comprehensive line of conversion kits. They claim to remove all computer controls from current vehicles. Available models are 1, 2, and 4 horse versions.

But what if you live in a one horse town?

Looks like the kids will have to wait till you get home to borrow the car.