Friday, December 12, 2008
There has been much in the news lately about the piracy epidemic off the coast of Somalia, affecting the important shipping lanes to the suez canal.
Many people point out that it is a very large area to patrol, and even when pirates are captured it is a confusing legal problem of what to do with them. This has prevented the Navies of the world from stamping out the problem.
I would like to propose a solution.
We should give each cargo and cruise ship a satellite phone and an AN/PED-1 Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder. When a pirate ship begins to attack, they would simply call up the US Navy and use the LLDR to act as their own personal forward air controller.
After the first few times a pirate ship got hit by a Hellfire missle from a predator drone circling the area, I imagine piracy would become a lot less appealing.
Many people point out that it is a very large area to patrol, and even when pirates are captured it is a confusing legal problem of what to do with them. This has prevented the Navies of the world from stamping out the problem.
I would like to propose a solution.
We should give each cargo and cruise ship a satellite phone and an AN/PED-1 Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder. When a pirate ship begins to attack, they would simply call up the US Navy and use the LLDR to act as their own personal forward air controller.
After the first few times a pirate ship got hit by a Hellfire missle from a predator drone circling the area, I imagine piracy would become a lot less appealing.
