You just bought a heap a whoop-ass!

[diddyriddick]

Not very smart.

Pirates open fire on U.S. Navy chopper - Somalia- msnbc.com

[RabidAlien]

Heh. Aren't our forces allowed to defend themselves once fired upon? Now....where'd we put those Seals with the sniper rifles.....

[Thorlifter]

"You are clear to return fire......over"

"Roger that"

[Messy1]

I heard about this on the news this morning. I cannot believe the helicopter did not return fire. A few more instances like this and jack offs are going to be receiving some lead coming there way!

[RabidAlien]

Its hard to know the reasons without being there. Could be the hijack-offs lined the rails with ship's crew, and shot from behind them. Lord knows hijacking a ship and then firing on a US helicopter is not the smartest thing you can do in life, but using a human shield would've bought them a few extra hours of freedom. And breathing.

[drgondog]

hard to know what the ROE were

[Colin1]

hard to know what the ROE were

Hi Bill
I get the impression the pilot made the right decision
I don't know how heavily USN surveillance missions are armed but he clearly observed until it got hot, then got out.
The helicopter was fired upon by a heavy-calibre weapon; again, I don't know how heavily the USN arm their surveillance missions but the pilot probably figured he had more to lose than the pirates. If the pirates could bring one heavy-calibre weapon to the fight, what chance they can bring more up once they realised the helicopter wanted to trade?
Could the helicopter take out/nullify as a threat the pirate ship? Unlikely notwithstanding my lack of knowledge of USN surveillance armament load-outs.
Could the pirate ship take out the helicopter? Even if only one heavy-calibre weapon makes an appearance, much more likely.
If the USN wanted to cause some hurt, they'd be back, on terms that the pirates couldn't hope to match.

Shooting at the helicopter - bad idea.

[evangilder]

If you look at the NATO guidelines, give them food and water and release them after questioning, it is no wonder why this is such a problem. They aren't even being slapped on the wrist.

Time to follow the 18th and 19th century Royal Navy standard and hang them from the yard arm. I have a branch of my family tree that were hanged for piracy. Was it effective? Maybe, maybe not, but at least SOME of them were put out of business. Knowing that the worst you are going to receive is being questioned sure makes that more attractive to young and poor kids.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Also you have to look at what the aircraft was armed with. If this was an SH-60 it would only be armed with 2 machine guns and possibly torpedos (which you are not going to use in this case). If the PC had ordered his crewchiefs to fire the machine guns, the chances of actually killing all the pirates at that distance is pretty slim. Then the hostages would have been in even more danger. So yeah, not being there, not knowing the ROE, not knowing all the circumstances, the Pilot did the right thing by not returning fire.

[trackend]

I think a few Q ships would not go a miss, IMO calling them pirates just makes them sound like Johnny Depp instead of armed, theiving bastards who should be blown out of the water.

[comiso90]

Also you have to look at what the aircraft was armed with. If this was an SH-60 it would only be armed with 2 machine guns and possibly torpedos (which you are not going to use in this case). If the PC had ordered his crewchiefs to fire the machine guns, the chances of actually killing all the pirates at that distance is pretty slim. Then the hostages would have been in even more danger. So yeah, not being there, not knowing the ROE, not knowing all the circumstances, the Pilot did the right thing by not returning fire.

I think thats a great assessment.

I wonder what kind or helo armament adjustments they are considering making to choppers for pirate eradication .... the politics introduce the need for some non-lethal solutions

sonic devices
heat rays
rubber bullet canister missiles bombs


maybe upgraded lethal arms too.. exploding dolphins?

.

[RabidAlien]

maybe upgraded lethal arms too.. exploding dolphins?

.

Flipper was always a punk! Too cute for his own good!

[B-17engineer]

I can't believe the helicopter was 3000 yards away. Looked like it was really close. Amazing.