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Easy to defend? Rubbish. One intercontinental ballistic missile would decimate their floating platform "settlements". They are sitting ducks, one well armed

by chadp 16y ago

Easy to defend? Rubbish. One intercontinental ballistic missile would decimate their floating platform "settlements". They are sitting ducks, one well armed rogue pirate ship could finish them.

nickpinkston 16y ago
Well planning for an ICBM is really overkill - most micro-nations would be wiped-out by a single nuclear-tipped ICBM (which are really the only kind since everyone assumes doomsday when one is launched). You're probably referring to tactical missiles a la Tomahawks, or even large anti-ship ones like an Exocet.
dpatru 16y ago
Technology that can be used for defense is progressing rapidly. The US military already uses unmanned flying sniper planes and Google already has surveillance helicopter robots. I expect that it won't be too much longer before it will be affordable to use robots and other high tech to defend a floating city against pirates and other enemies with conventional weapons. North Korea has shown that the easiest way to defend against invasion by the US is to have a number of nukes. This seems to be Iran's strategy too. Until they have nukes, they are vulnerable. After they have nukes, they are much less likely to be attacked themselves. If North Korea, Pakistan, and (soon) Iran have managed to get nukes, I don't see why small groups of rich, smart, western businessmen won't be able to. A floating settlement armed with robotic drones and nuclear missiles would be pretty secure I think.
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dgudkov 16y ago
Nothing protects small country better than enabled dual citizenship with heavy-weight countries. Who would want to attack a country if majority of its population have dual citizenship with the US or UK or any other well-developed country?
stcredzero 16y ago
They are sitting ducks, one well armed rogue pirate ship could finish them. Why would an armed rogue ship want to do that? Seastead platforms would only have value as a floating platform. It's not as if you could easily fence the thing. The platforms could also be hosting things of value, like a casino. A casino would probably be able to afford really good security, and its owners might well have enough political pull to get the assistance of land-nation's militaries. It would have to be a really organized and well equipped rogue pirate ship. I'm not sure these exist. The closest analogues are small open boats of armed Somalis and actual military ships. Most likely, the platforms would be of little value to a pirate. The few that are going to be worth hitting will probably be too hard to hit.
patrissimo 16y ago
Since when do pirate ships have ICBMs? Have you seen pictures of the Somali pirates? It's like 5 guys w/ AK-47s in a speedboat: http://patdollard.com/wp-content/uploads/somali-pirates1.jpg http://patdollard.com/wp-content/uploads/somali-pirates1.jpg. Easy to defend against. The only well-armed ships are navies. Yes, a navy or an ICBM could easily destroy a seastead. They could also easily destroy Monaco, Vanuatu, Dominica, or any other small country. The world is full of sitting ducks, yet we don't see them "finished" very often, because there is little profit in it for a government and it is politically unpopular.

by chadp 16y ago

Easy to defend? Rubbish. One intercontinental ballistic missile would decimate their floating platform "settlements". They are sitting ducks, one well armed rogue pirate ship could finish them.

nickpinkston 16y ago

Well planning for an ICBM is really overkill - most micro-nations would be wiped-out by a single nuclear-tipped ICBM (which are really the only kind since everyone assumes doomsday when one is launched). You're probably referring to tactical missiles a la Tomahawks, or even large anti-ship ones like an Exocet.

dpatru 16y ago

Technology that can be used for defense is progressing rapidly. The US military already uses unmanned flying sniper planes and Google already has surveillance helicopter robots. I expect that it won't be too much longer before it will be affordable to use robots and other high tech to defend a floating city against pirates and other enemies with conventional weapons. North Korea has shown that the easiest way to defend against invasion by the US is to have a number of nukes. This seems to be Iran's strategy too. Until they have nukes, they are vulnerable. After they have nukes, they are much less likely to be attacked themselves. If North Korea, Pakistan, and (soon) Iran have managed to get nukes, I don't see why small groups of rich, smart, western businessmen won't be able to. A floating settlement armed with robotic drones and nuclear missiles would be pretty secure I think.

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dgudkov 16y ago

Nothing protects small country better than enabled dual citizenship with heavy-weight countries. Who would want to attack a country if majority of its population have dual citizenship with the US or UK or any other well-developed country?

stcredzero 16y ago

They are sitting ducks, one well armed rogue pirate ship could finish them. Why would an armed rogue ship want to do that? Seastead platforms would only have value as a floating platform. It's not as if you could easily fence the thing. The platforms could also be hosting things of value, like a casino. A casino would probably be able to afford really good security, and its owners might well have enough political pull to get the assistance of land-nation's militaries. It would have to be a really organized and well equipped rogue pirate ship. I'm not sure these exist. The closest analogues are small open boats of armed Somalis and actual military ships. Most likely, the platforms would be of little value to a pirate. The few that are going to be worth hitting will probably be too hard to hit.

patrissimo 16y ago

Since when do pirate ships have ICBMs? Have you seen pictures of the Somali pirates? It's like 5 guys w/ AK-47s in a speedboat: http://patdollard.com/wp-content/uploads/somali-pirates1.jpg http://patdollard.com/wp-content/uploads/somali-pirates1.jpg. Easy to defend against. The only well-armed ships are navies. Yes, a navy or an ICBM could easily destroy a seastead. They could also easily destroy Monaco, Vanuatu, Dominica, or any other small country. The world is full of sitting ducks, yet we don't see them "finished" very often, because there is little profit in it for a government and it is politically unpopular.