Go Navy!

[GPM]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/12/world/main4937465.shtml

[BobFV1]

Bravo Zulu

[DarthRider]

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) - An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday and three of the pirates who held him for days in a lifeboat off the Somali coast were killed in a operation by U.S. Navy Seals that was approved by President Barack Obama, officials said.

[BobFV1]

killed in a operation by U.S. Navy Seals that was approved by President Barack Obama, officials said.I hoped they briefed him on the fact that the pirates are black.

[Blackdog]

I hoped they briefed him on the fact that the pirates are black.

Ha ha, that's good! It's about time this country showed some balls. The Navy has been harassed recently in China and Iraq and did little to nothing about it. I'm not blaming the military, it's our leadership that has gotten soft and PC.

[DarthRider]

I guess it's a great day for everyone but Obama haters...and pirates.

[demenshea]

I guess it's a great day for everyone but Obama haters...and pirates.

:thumbs_up: That is excellent.

I was talking to my 20 year old son yesterday, saying that I couldn't understand why these doods floating in a raft were unchecked. They seemed an easy target. I was under the impression that we had guns that were so accurate via satellite we could hit a bug somewhere. So, I am just misinformed? (Miss Informed) ; )

[Wild Will]

I guess it's a great day for everyone but Obama haters...and pirates.

Roger that, Danger Man. Well done; the Navy never disappoints! I'm giving Obama a chance to show how he'll handle things. I might as well, eh? He's Commander In Chief, after all.

[Wild Will]

:thumbs_up: That is excellent.

I was talking to my 20 year old son yesterday, saying that I couldn't understand why these doods floating in a raft were unchecked. They seemed an easy target. I was under the impression that we had guns that were so accurate via satellite we could hit a bug somewhere. So, I am just misinformed? (Miss Informed) ; )

Had they done it that way, it's likely the hostage would have been harmed, if only from fiberglass shards when the target was hit.

[demenshea]

Had they done it that way, it's likely the hostage would have been harmed, if only from fiberglass shards when the target was hit.

I suppose it was merely one of my 007 dreams...:icon_redface:

I was thinking missiles anyway not bullets and that would definitely have harmed everyone.

[jamming]

Hell YES!!!!!!

About damned time!

Bob, question...ah...listen..your in the biz....how come they can't put a .50 or a 20 MM on the bow and stern? Bastards come close, send em to whatever special place they believe in. I'm fucking tired of PC, what part of PIRATES do they NOT understand????? Seems to me that it would be a hell of a lot cheaper to pay people to stand by with weapons than the ransom.
SCREW POLITICS!!!!!!!!! It's international waters...right?????

Pay ME enough and I'll put in my retirement papers and go do that for a while. It'd be fun...I like the ocean. :pot:

[GPM]

Three simultaneous head shots, 25 to 30 meters, in deteriorating seas. Not bad shooting for a bunch of squids....

[BobFV1]

Hell YES!!!!!!

About damned time!

Bob, question...ah...listen..your in the biz....how come they can't put a .50 or a 20 MM on the bow and stern? Bastards come close, send em to whatever special place they believe in. I'm fucking tired of PC, what part of PIRATES do they NOT understand????? Seems to me that it would be a hell of a lot cheaper to pay people to stand by with weapons than the ransom.
SCREW POLITICS!!!!!!!!! It's international waters...right?????

Pay ME enough and I'll put in my retirement papers and go do that for a while. It'd be fun...I like the ocean. :pot:Rog - Lots of reasons. Those ships are almost completely automated and operate with very small crews - 15 to 30 max. They all have watchstanding and administrative duties so that leaves nobody available for manning guns, plus the fact that they could not sail in territorial waters with automatic weapons, and the crew would need to be cross trained in their use. Then, even if you had the staffing required and could avoid the legal issues, you would have significant areas where the field of fire would be masked. Also, the type of fire required to repel boarders is plunging fire, very inaccurate in these types of situations. The best measure to prevent piracy is sophisticated over-the-horizon target identification equipment, gyro-stabilized optical and electromagnetic recognition stuff. Using this equipment, you can usually avaoid any problems unless you are in restricted waters, in which case it is best to embark a tactical team to deter any hostile activity once the attack starts.

That's a nutshell, anyway.

[jamming]

Rog - Lots of reasons. Those ships are almost completely automated and operate with very small crews - 15 to 30 max. They all have watchstanding and administrative duties so that leaves nobody available for manning guns, plus the fact that they could not sail in territorial waters with automatic weapons, and the crew would need to be cross trained in their use. Then, even if you had the staffing required and could avoid the legal issues, you would have significant areas where the field of fire would be masked. Also, the type of fire required to repel boarders is plunging fire, very inaccurate in these types of situations. The best measure to prevent piracy is sophisticated over-the-horizon target identification equipment, gyro-stabilized optical and electromagnetic recognition stuff. Using this equipment, you can usually avaoid any problems unless you are in restricted waters, in which case it is best to embark a tactical team to deter any hostile activity once the attack starts.

That's a nutshell, anyway.

That's quite a nutshell. What's wrong with defensive measures on the ships? You could put a lethel charge in an electric net hung below the gunnel's. Weld spikes on. Come on, they can't figure it out???? What about defensive foam??? Spray liquid nitrogen out of the hoses instead of water.

I guess I'm just not smart in the ways of the world. Too many damn rules.

[fganger]

All I can really say is God Bless the people involved with the rescue and may the devil have his way with those who allowed the crew to be set-up like that.

Stinkin' Frank

[Wild Will]

Then there's the fact that Somalia has no government, and the size of the waters in danger is monumental. Who do you attack? The answer is making the ships too dangerous for the armed villagers to attack. Sending these ships out with fire hoses against machine guns is ludicrous in the extreme. It's not like the USN isn't already busy elsewhere these days. And how about that North Korean missile test? How the prez reacts to that will be interesting to me.