4 ms·

well, at $300K a pop, it may make sense to lease a Skynex (4-5 containers - control room, radar, 1-2 Oerlikon guns and a container with missiles) and load it on

by trhway 3y ago

well, at $300K a pop, it may make sense to lease a Skynex (4-5 containers - control room, radar, 1-2 Oerlikon guns and a container with missiles) and load it on a container ship before the ship would enter the Houthi's attack zone. Unload after it makes through the zone and load on another ship, etc. If I were in private military contracting, I'd right now be making a killing so to speak. In general, with drones proliferating, an affordable highly mobile (all in one container - radar, minimum 20mm gun, laser, vertical launch Stinger class missiles and EM countermeasures) point defense should become a pretty good selling product.

supertrope 3y ago
The vast majority of carriers will not carry weapons on their ships. Either they don’t want to deal with workers’ compensation when security personnel are hurt, their insurance doesn’t allow it, or the endpoint countries prohibit armed crew members so they’d have to get off in international waters. Even if you hire a PMC I doubt they can deal with anti-ship missiles or ballistic missiles. Attack is much easier than defense.
- trhway 3y ago
  Back at the time of Somali pirates the armed PMC were present on the board of many of those ships while passing off the Somali. Yes, they usually were there only while in international waters. For a PMC in the current situation, to avoid loading/unloading, it may make sense to get an own ship and load Skynex or similar system on it and to just escort the client ship though the danger zone. >Even if you hire a PMC I doubt they can deal with anti-ship missiles or ballistic missiles. Attack is much easier than defense. A subsonic missile like a typical anti-ship can easily be shot down by a regular MANPAD like Stinger. Automatic - just press a button - systems like Phalanx or Skynex are similarly very easy to operate. Ballistic missiles are the hardest target, so not every system can do it, yet the modern systems which are capable to shot down ballistics do it automatically.

by trhway 3y ago

supertrope 3y ago

The vast majority of carriers will not carry weapons on their ships. Either they don’t want to deal with workers’ compensation when security personnel are hurt, their insurance doesn’t allow it, or the endpoint countries prohibit armed crew members so they’d have to get off in international waters. Even if you hire a PMC I doubt they can deal with anti-ship missiles or ballistic missiles. Attack is much easier than defense.

trhway 3y ago
Back at the time of Somali pirates the armed PMC were present on the board of many of those ships while passing off the Somali. Yes, they usually were there only while in international waters. For a PMC in the current situation, to avoid loading/unloading, it may make sense to get an own ship and load Skynex or similar system on it and to just escort the client ship though the danger zone. >Even if you hire a PMC I doubt they can deal with anti-ship missiles or ballistic missiles. Attack is much easier than defense. A subsonic missile like a typical anti-ship can easily be shot down by a regular MANPAD like Stinger. Automatic - just press a button - systems like Phalanx or Skynex are similarly very easy to operate. Ballistic missiles are the hardest target, so not every system can do it, yet the modern systems which are capable to shot down ballistics do it automatically.