Security

Littoral Combat Ship's Pirate-Fighting Tech

When Somali pirates seized a Ukrainian vessel smuggling 33 T-72 tanks to Sudan, the U.S. Navy rushed a large Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, USS Howard, to keep an eye on the arsenal ship, and perhaps intervene if the pirates attempt to unload the lethal cargo. But in future pirate fights (and there will be future pirate […]

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When Somali pirates seized a Ukrainian vessel smuggling 33 T-72 tanks to Sudan, the U.S. Navy rushed a large Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, USS Howard, to keep an eye on the arsenal ship, and perhaps intervene if the pirates attempt to unload the lethal cargo.

But in future pirate fights (and there will be future pirate fights, since the problem is only growing) the Navy might deploy its latest inshore warship, the late, over-budget Littoral Combat Ship. The new, lightweight fighter comes equipped with a system specially designed for taking out "low-intensity" threats such as pirates, without killing them. That's one subject of my new piracy story in Popular Mechanics.

The so-called Running-Gear Entanglement System, developed by the Coast Guard and included in the LCS' surface-warfare module, is essentially a floating net for clogging up the propellers of skiffs and other small boats, stranding them in the water so boarding teams can catch up.

Combined with Fire Scout robot choppers for surveillance and Long-Range Acoustic Device sonic blasters, the planned 55-strong LCS fleet will boast a full quiver of technologies for spotting, warding off and capturing pirates. But even the latest warship is not a permanent solution, according to Martin Murphy, a naval analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
"Piracy has only ever been defeated when defeated on land," Murphy says.

(Art: S.F. Chronicle)

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