As governments anguish about ways to confront the challenge of Somali piracy, all sorts of solutions are being proposed. One that’s beginning to attract attention involves thinking small and looking to the past.
We’ve learned in recent years that when it comes to modern asymmetrical land warfare, the best way to win is usually to get symmetrical with your opponents—only tougher and better armed in this diminished size range. The same lesson might be applied to confronting the Somali pirate menace.
Specifically, bring back some version of World War II’s PT-boat. Arm these small, very fast, cheap to build vessels with a fifty caliber machine gun and a rapid fire cannon, and add a few Navy Seals to their crews. Have a number of them operate from a few mother ships, thus covering a huge area, and give their captains great discretion about how to deal with suspected pirates.
Pretty soon, far fewer profit-seeking pirates.