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calendar   Thursday - May 19, 2011

Attack of the Acronyms

New EUSD ROE?

Somali Pirates SOL!


image

Similar to the Army’s Blackhawk, this Navy Seahawk is rigged for ASW


The crew of a Navy helicopter launched from the destroyer Bulkeley fired upon and is believed to have killed four pirates who were in the process of attacking a crude oil carrier while it was transiting the Gulf of Oman on Monday, according to Combined Maritime Forces.

The interdiction took place at 10:35 a.m. local time. The Norfolk, Va.-based Bulkeley, assigned to Joint Task Force 150, had received a mayday call from the German-owned, Panamanian-flagged crude carrier Artemis Glory, which said it was being chased and attacked by pirates.

Bulkeley responded to the mayday call, first heard by a Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship and relayed to Combined Maritime Forces, by launching an SH-60B Seahawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Squadron Light 48, Detachment 4, to investigate. When it arrived on station — a command spokesman could not provide the distance or transit time — the crew saw four individuals in a skiff firing at Artemis Glory, using small arms.

The helicopter crew opened fire on the skiff under what command spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Sam Hearn of the Royal Navy said was the principle of “extended unit self-defense” on behalf of the crude carrier. All four pirates are believed to have been killed, Hearn said. Hearn said he did not know which weapon system was employed but noted that the SH-60B is equipped with a single M-240 machine gun.

Officials do not believe the helicopter was fired upon by the pirates, Hearn said.

Hearn said Bulkeley did not pick up the bodies, and could not say whether the skiff was sunk. Once it was determined that Artemis Glory was out of danger, the ship continued on its way, Hearn said. The ship is transporting a cargo of crude oil from Saudi Arabia to China.

The M-240 is our standard 7.62 NATO (.308) air cooled medium machine gun. Typical mounting on a helicopter uses a door gunner. The Seahawk does have several hardpoints, so it could easily mount small missiles like the Hellfire as well. Either armament has approximately equal range to an RPG and only slightly greater than an AK-47, so this was not a stand-back-at-a-safe-distance-and-shoot engagement; the Seahawk crew did the job in an up close and personal manner. It is entirely possible that the helicopter came under fire, whatever officials choose to believe. It was certainly within range.

But I do like the outcome. I don’t know if there is a new SOO (Save Our Oil) doctrine in play, or if the fact that this VLCC tanker was taking oil to our new financial overlords in China contributed to the action, but the pirates were caught shooting at a merchant ship and the Navy blasted them right out of the water. And left their bodies to rot and sink, while the tanker went on its merry way. Nothing to see here, move along. Next!

I had thought that Extended Unit Self Defense, EUSD, only applied to American military vessels. Extending the concept to foreign flagged merchantmen is something new. And it’s about time.

The Bulkely is getting a lot of anti-pirate action on this cruise. I wonder if they get to paint little Jolly Rodgers kill flags on the side of the ship’s bridge after each take down?

Go Navy!


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 05/19/2011 at 08:05 AM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
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