Category Archives: asymmetric warfare

USCG (Quietly) Poking Around All the Corners of the Pacific

While I have recently pointed out that the USCG’s small force of frigate-sized National Security Cutters has been busy this summer ranging to the East China Sea, participating in RIMPAC ’24, and the bird-dogging the Chinese around the Aleutians, two other ops have been going on as well– and have flown under the radar.

GALAPEX 2024

The USCG cutter USCGC Benjamin Bottoms (WPC-1132) recently participated, with maritime forces from 13 other countries, in GALAPEX 2024.

Put on by the Ecuadorian Navy around the Galapagos Islands, the two-week multinational naval exercise is “designed to improve interoperability and cooperation between the navies of different countries. Through simulations and joint maneuvers, participants practice coordination in maritime security operations, combating common threats such as illegal fishing, and responding to emergencies.”

Participants included the Ecuadorian Esmeraldas class corvette BAE Loja (CM 16), patrol ship BAE Hualcopo, tanker BAE Atahualpa, and fleet tug BAE Imbabura (RA 72); the new Dutch (Damen Stan 5009) built Ecuadoran Guardacostas patrulleras LAE Isla San Cristobal (LG-30) and LAE Isla Isabela (LG-31), Peru’s South Korean (STX) made Guardacostas patrulleras BAP Río Huarmey (209), and the Colombian Navy’s CPV-46 class patrullero costero ARC Punta Ardita (PC-147).

Bottoms, the 32nd Sentinel-class cutter, was commissioned in 2019 and is based out of San Pedro, California– some 3,500 nm north of the Galapagos.

This shows the legs these 154-foot cutters have, with a little bit of help downrange. The class has been ranging around the South Pacific as far as Australia (from Hawaii) and has largely self-deployed from the East Coast to the Persian Gulf. 

As noted by USCG PAO:

Transiting 3,500 miles from homeport to Ecuador and Galapagos Islands, the crew pushed the boundaries of mission sets and downrange operations. The ability to conduct expeditionary operations in support of our Central and South American partners could only be possible with the support of the Coast Guard’s Expeditionary Logisitics Element (LOG-X), providing foreign port contracting services and advanced medical staffing through the deployable independent duty health services technician billet.

Operation Nasse

Speaking to engaging with small maritime forces in the Pacific, one of the Coast Guard’s precious Hawaii-based HC-130J Super Herks is just coming off a tour around the West Pac.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Junior Grade Nick Fuist and Lt. Cmdr. Keith Arnold , two pilots at U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, man the controls of aHC-130 Super Hercules in the skies above Auckland, New Zealand, Jul. 9, 2024. The U.S. Coast Guard completed participation in Operation Nasse, a three-month operation conducted by Australia, France, New Zealand, and the U.S. to safeguard the invaluable marine resources of Pacific Island nations and the Western Central Pacific Ocean (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nicholas Martino) 240709-G-G0214-1003

USCG PAO:

From July 1-12, an HC-130J Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point patrolled the South Pacific High Seas in and around the Exclusive Economic Zones of Australia, New Caledonia, Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga, Niue, and the Cook Islands to detect, investigate and report any illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activity.

Joint efforts for Operation Nasse covered over 16,000 square miles, with the U.S. Coast Guard contributing:

Over 58 hours of flight time
37 vessels sighted and analyzed
Four potential Conservation and Management Measures (CMM) violations reported
240 hours of analyst-to-analyst collaboration and training

Deception? There is a Manual for That

The Marine Corps recently released the 90-page MCTP 3-32F “Deception” in support of their Force Design 2030 efforts– which includes the concept of shadowy little recon and anti-ship missile batteries quietly operating in the greater littoral of the South China Sea.

“Marines conduct deception activities to achieve military ends—to gain or preserve an advantage linked to their assigned mission. Marines primarily use deception to achieve surprise or maintain security of an operation. These two effects support mission accomplishment by reducing the overall risk of an operation.”

Read the manual here.

Looking for Summer Reading?

USS MONTEREY (BM-6) crewmen reading on the fore-deck, under awnings, in Philippine waters, circa 1914. Note 12″ guns. NH 88575

The Irregular Warfare Institute curated a list of twelve books on irregular warfare sourced from recommendations within the IWI community. These books cover everything from foundational theories of irregular warfare to gripping historical accounts. They’ve even thrown in a novel as a palate cleanser from some of the more technical or academic selections.

The goal is to appeal to a broad audience, which is in line with IWI’s mission to bridge the gap between scholars studying irregular warfare and practitioners implementing it on the ground. To that end, all the books listed underscore the case that irregular warfare is a persistent and powerful form of conflict that our adversaries are actively leveraging to undermine US national security interests.

Check it out here.

Racing Stripes in the South China Sea

How about this for “the way of the world” in 2024? Below you have a bilateral U.S.-Philippine search and rescue exercise conducted on 16 July between the U.S. Coast Guard Bethoff-class cutter USCGC Waesche (WMSL 751) and the Philippine Coast Guard ‘s Teresa Magbanua-class patrol vessel BRP Melchora Aquino (MRRV-9702). Operations included a joint sail and conducting search and rescue (SAR) training, personnel transfer evolutions, and bilateral sailing.

(U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ensign Julia VanLuven)

As noted by the USCG PAO:

“It was an honor to train with our partners in the Philippine Coast Guard to ensure that we are always ready to respond to save lives on the high seas,” said Capt. Tyson Scofield, commanding officer of Waesche. “We look forward to fostering our relationship as we strive to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific. Sharing lessons learned and best practices through person-to-person exercises is the best way to improve our ability to operate together on the unforgiving ocean.”

The 418-foot Waesche is under the operational control of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force.

She is the second Legend-class cutter of the U.S. Coast Guard and is homeported at Coast Guard Island in Alameda. With a 4,600 long-ton displacement, these frigate-sized cutters have a top speed “in excess of 28 knots” a seriously long range of 12,000 nautical miles, and carry a crew of up to 170 including an aviation det, and, when deployed on such a mission, typically some USN and USMC commo and language specialists. Armament is limited to a 57mm DP Bofors, a CIWS, some crew-served MGs, and passive countermeasures (Mk 53 Nulka decoy, Mk 36 SRBOC, AN/SLQ-32B(V)2 EW). I’d like to see at least some NSMs and ASW capabilities added as well as CIWS dropped for a SeaRAM or an ADL ESSM system, but hey…

Since leaving the West Coast for her West Pac cruise, Waesche has called at Pohang in South Korea and worked alongside the ROK Coast Guard and at Maizuru, Japan, where she worked alongside the JCG.

Republic of Korea Coast Guard vessel KCG Taepyongyang (KCG-3016), U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Waesche (WMSL-751) and Japan Coast Guard vessel JCGC Wakasa (PL-93) patrol in formation during a trilateral exercise in the East Sea, June 6, 2024. Coast Guardsmen from Japan, Republic of Korea and the United States used the trilateral exercise as an opportunity to rehearse cohesion between the nations when operating together. U.S. Coast Guard missions in the Indo-Pacific focus on issues directly supporting and advancing our regional partners’ efforts to protect fish stocks, ensure the safety of life at sea, support environmental response, and provide disaster relief. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Elijah Murphy)

Canadian Mosquitos in Full Color

How about this great original Kodachrome of Type G class torpedo boats of the 29th Canadian Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla. The lead boat, MTB-460, was lost to a German mine off the coast of Normandy on 2 July 1944, some 80 years ago this month, with a loss of 10 officers and men.

Library & Archives Canada MIKAN No. 4950981

As well as two more taken at the same time:

MIKAN 4821111

MIKAN 4821109

Displacing some 44 tons, these 71.75-foot MTBs had a beam of just 20 feet and could operate in anything over 6 feet of water at a combat load. Capable of 39 knots on a trio of Rolls-Royce V-12s running on 100 octane avgas, they carried a single 6-pounder forward, a twin 20mm AAA DP gun aft, and a pair of forward-firing 18-inch torpedo tubes. Complement was 3 officers and 14 men, about the same as the standard American 80-foot Elco PT boat which had a heavier armament. They were constructed by the British Power Boat Company at their Hythe, Southampton boat yard and originally designed as motor gun boats (MGBs) but modified to carry torpedoes.

The RCN fielded two squadrons of MTBs during the last two years of WWII, the aforementioned 29th Flotilla which exclusively used BPB-made G-Type MTBs (No. 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 485, 486, and 491) and the 65th, which used earlier Fairmile D types (Nos. 726, 727, 735, 736, 743, 744, 745, 746, 748, and 797).

As detailed by the Royal Canadian Navy:

Motor torpedo boats (MTBs) were small warships about 22 metres long and six metres wide. Equipped with powerful engines, torpedoes, light naval guns, and machine guns, the Canadian MTBs operated chiefly at night in the English Channel as fast attack boats that disrupted enemy shipping off the coast of occupied Europe and defended Allied shipping from the German’s own fast attack boats and midget submarines. The MTBs also played an important role on D-Day when they helped protect the huge Allied fleet from German warships.

The MTB crews had an extremely dangerous job – their boats were small, the seas of the English Channel were rough, and German guns and mines were never far away.

The worst day in the history of the 29th MTB came on 14 February 1945 when five boats of its remaining eight boats were destroyed in a conflagration in Oostende which left 26 of its members dead.

The Man from Texas

90 years ago– 12 July 1954– French Cochinchina: “A portrait of Sergeant Major Robert Biet, of the amphibious group of the 5e Régiment de Spahis Marocains (5e RSM). He was nicknamed ‘the man from Texas.'” Note the SGM’s personal sporting rifle slug over his shoulder, a British Enfield .38/200 revolver in an open-topped holster, combat short shorts, and a bevy of DF 37 (smooth) and OF 37 (ridges) bottle grenades tucked into his pistol belt via their spoons.

Photo by Pierre Ferrari/ECPAD/Defense Ref.: SVN 54-25 R31

While the French had been licked at Dien Bein Phu in May 1954, as seen above, they did not withdraw the last of their troops until 1956.

As for the 5th Moroccan Spahis — an altogether different force from the 5e Régiment de Spahis Algériens (5e RSA) which existed from 1914 to 1962– they were formed as a horse cavalry unit in Morocco in 1943 shortly after the Torch Landings, they deployed to Europe after August 1944 and, after constabulary use in the Toulouse region, they were engaged in Alsace, then in the Black Forest and dissolved after occupation duty in Germany.

5e Régiment de Spahis Marocains, WWII

Reformed in 1949 for service in Indochina, they fielded a mixed force of armored reconnaissance units in Cambodia and around Saigon as well as two platoons of riverine troops on shallow draft brown water boats (as seen above in the first image).

They were disbanded for the final time on 1 February 1955.

190th is the Charm: Houthi Sink 80,000-ton Bulk Carrier in Combined Arms Attack

As detailed in an On-the-Record Press Briefing by Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh Holds, the current count of Iranian-backed Houthi attacks in the Red Sea area since 19 November stands at over 190 incidents. Two of the latest were very successful.

Last week, the Yemen-based Houthis struck two cargo ships: the bulk carrier M/V Tutor (82,357 DWT), which is Liberian flagged, Greek-owned, and Filipino-operated as well as the M/V Verbena (20,518 DWT), which is Palauan flagged, Ukrainian-owned and Polish operated.

The June 12 attack on the Tutor resulted in severe flooding and damage to the engine room.  

The guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) responded to distress calls from the Tutor. Aircraft from the cruiser and partner forces helped evacuate 21 of 22 personnel from the vessel. This operation took place in the Red Sea and within range of Houthi weapons, making it a risky and complex operation, she said.

Iranian, Russian, and Chinese naval vessels were among the ships within response distance that did nothing to assist the Tutor, Singh noted.

Tutor was hit by “an unknown airborne projectile” after being hit in the stern by a drone boat, with one of her Filipino crew left missing and later confirmed deceased.

She was carrying an armed guard detachment which apparently shrugged off the drone boat– a converted local fishing craft– until it was too late.

An update from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) office on Tuesday said that military authorities reported seeing debris and oil in the last known location of the Tutor and then sunk in position 14’19’N 041’14’E.

This is the second incident resulting in the death of mariners in the conflict, following the deaths of three crew members on the Barbados-flagged bulk carrier M/V True Confidence (29,104 GT), struck by a Houthi anti-ship missile in the Gulf of Aden in early March while carrying steel products and trucks from China to Jordan.

It is also now the second confirmed sinking in the conflict, following the Belize-flagged bulk carrier MV Rubymar (19,420 GT) which, hit by a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile on 18 February 2024, was abandoned and subsequently sank in foul weather 12 days later. All 24 crew members of Rubymar were rescued and landed at Djibouti.

Meanwhile, Verbena, carrying cargo from Songkhla (Thailand) to Venice, was reportedly hit by two missiles, causing fires and extensive damage, which left one civilian mariner severely injured and later airlifted for medical treatment. The crew later abandoned the ship due to the inability to contain the fires.

Central Command in the past 72 hours since then has advised they have destroyed: two Houthi uncrewed surface vessels (USV) in the Red Sea, eight Houthi uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen, as well as four Houthi radars and one uncrewed surface vessel (USV) in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

Shipping and mariner advocacy groups are calling for more action. Expect an increase in diversions around the Cape of Good Hope.

Drone CVEs and CVLs abound (except in the US)

I know you guys are together and bathe regularly and don’t need me to point stuff like this out, but drone carriers are seriously becoming a thing.

In the past couple of years, Turkey has decided to turn Anadolu, their 25,000-ton/762-foot variant of the Spanish LHA Juan Carlos I, into a floating airdrome for their domestically-produced UCAVs such as the Bayraktar TB-3, an aircraft roughly equivalent to a late model General Atomics MQ-1 Predator.

Plans have shown the ‘phib with 40 TB3s on deck, not counting those that could be stored below deck.

Then came news from Thailand that the small 1990s-built ski-jump equipped 11,500-ton HTMS Chakri Naruebet, long stripped of its working second-hand AV-8S Harriers, is to be upcycled to operate drones.

HTMS Chakri Naruebet with locally made MARCUS drone

Further, the Portuguese Navy is in the design phase of a 10,000-ton multifunctional LPH that can carry UAVs as its principal air wing.

The fixed-wing UAVs are launched via a ski jump. Portuguese Navy image.

The mothership is shown with two notional fixed-wing UAVs on deck (they look like MQ-1C Grey Eagle but the new MQ-9B STOL may be a better fit) as well as 6 quad-copter UAVs and one NH90 helicopter. The design seems to lack an aviation hangar. Below decks is a modular area to launch and recover AUV, UUV, and USV. Portuguese Navy image.

Speaking to adversarial countries, Iran has shown off a one-way drone carrier made from a converted coaster, and China built a pair of small catamaran “drone mini-carriers.”

Iran’s budget “drone carrier”

Chinese catamaran drone mini-carrier, with five VTOL spots

Now it seems the PLAN has gone the distance and is close to completing a much larger, 300-foot, drone carrier catamaran.

Via Naval New. The previously unreported drone carrier (A) is longer but narrower than two drone motherships (C, D) built in the same yard. There are also several high-tech target barges (B, F), including one miming an aircraft carrier (E).

We need American CVE-Qs

It seems that a quick program to rapidly construct a series of navalized drone-carrying jeep carriers should be pushed through.

Think this but with UAVs: 

USS Altamaha (CVE-18) transporting Army P-51 Mustang fighters off San Francisco, California on 16 July 1943. NH 106575

Commercial hull. Perhaps even taken up from the glut of vessels already for sale at just above scrap value. Minimal conversion reconstruction while resisting the desire to add all sorts of gee-whiz gear and weapons. Could even go supersized and use converted VLCCs and supertankers. 

Minimally manned (15-20 vessel crew, 20-30 UAV techs and operators). Expendable vessel if push comes to shove, with the crew given ready access to a couple of quick-release free-fall lifeboats.

Fill it with a few dozen MQ-9B STOLs until something more advanced comes along. 

This General Atomics rendering shows it running from an LHA, but surely a smaller and more dedicated CVE-style vessel could work. Note the underwing armament

DARPA is working on its Ancillary Program of six different design concepts for a low-weight, large-payload, long-endurance VTOL uncrewed X-plane to operate with the fleet, so the idea of an all-UAS Carrier Air Wing is just over the horizon. 

ANCILLARY design concept renderings from all six performers, clockwise from lower left: Sikorsky, Karem Aircraft, Griffon Aerospace, Method Aeronautics, AeroVironment, Northrop Grumman.

Add a couple of CVEQs to a DDG (commodore and AAW commander) and LCS (Surface Warfare commander) for an instant sea control group.

The ghosts of Kaiser and Zumwalt would approve.

Red Sea Update (spoiler: it is not as quiet as it seems)

With the undeclared asymmetric naval war in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden stretching into its eighth month (and Operation Prosperity Guardian into its sixth), it has largely fallen from Page 1 of the mainstream media to more like Page 25.

So what’s going on?

The official news has been limited, but CENTCOM continues to put out terse almost daily reports of engagements against anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM), uncrewed surface vessels (USV), uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), and one-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA UAV) fired by Iran-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen.

These attacks seem to come mostly in the late night or early mornings, often under the cover of darkness, and, gratefully, are almost always anticlimactic, with coalition assets easily able to counter/destroy them through a usually undisclosed mix of soft and hard kill systems employed by both airborne and afloat assets with no damage or casualties to report.

Gone are the cumulative tracking announcements from CENTCOM (e.g. “this is the 29th attack) as, well, the numbers probably got too high.

Take the following pressers into account just for the first week of May:

May 2: “At approximately 2:00 p.m. (Sanaa time) on May 2, 2024, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully engaged and destroyed three uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) in an Iranian-backed Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.”

May 6: “At approximately 10:47 a.m. (Sanaa time) on May 6, 2024, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully engaged and destroyed one uncrewed aerial system (UAS) launched by Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists over the Red Sea.

Between approximately 11:02 p.m. and 11:48 p.m. (Sanaa time) on May 6, Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists launched three uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) over the Gulf of Aden from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. A coalition ship successfully engaged one UAS, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully engaged the second UAS, and the final UAS crashed in the Gulf of Aden.”

May 7: “At approximately 5:02 a.m. (Sanaa time) on May 7, Iran-backed Houthi terrorists launched an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) over the Gulf of Aden.”

The most hectic day in recent memory was the swarm attack of 9 March that saw “28 uncrewed aerial vehicles between 4:00 a.m. and 8:20 a.m. (Sanaa time).”

Acknowledging the ongoing combat operations– keep in mind that Carrier Strike Group 2 (USS Dwight D. Eisenhower with Carrier Air Wing 3 embarked, cruiser USS Philippine Sea, and Burkes USS Gravely, USS Laboon, and USS Mason) have been in the Red Sea since 4 November 2023– the SECNAV on 24 April authorized Combat Awards and Devices for those in the Red Sea Area “effective from 19 October 2023 to a date to be determined.”

However, immanent danger pay is not authorized. Whomp, whomp.

A U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet flies over the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) on Dec. 13, 2023. Deployed as part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKECSG), the Philippine Sea is ready to respond to a range of contingencies in support of national security priorities. IKECSG is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East Region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Keith Nowak) 231213-N-PS818-1001

Hopefully, the supply of precious (and expensive) SM-2s and AMRAAMs, which took decades to stockpile, is not emptying as fast as a fat kid with a big gulp. Word is that aerial gun systems (including helicopter door gunners) have been very effective against a lot of these low-speed targets. The French Navy, for one, has confirmed such a shootdown with video. 

Speaking of coalition partners (and those coalition-adjacent), both Denmark (the frigate Iver Huitfeldt) and Germany (frigate Hessen) are learning from post-deployment follies to the Red Sea suffered from a variety of missile mishaps, ammo snags, and training problems showing themselves. As a silver lining, this is surely a good development as no casualties were suffered and everyone is taking a hard look at how to fix the problems moving forward.

This comes as the Portsmouth-based Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond, now on her second deployment to the region, has been bagging ASBMs with her, thus far very successful, Sea Viper missile system. 

And, just because why not, the Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) has reported that piracy is back in style off the Somali Coast, with no less than 28 documented incidents since last November including 3 vessels assaulted and 2 reporting suspicious approaches in just the past 30 days.

The Men with Green Faces

55 years ago today, 7 May 1969, in Norfolk, Virginia: “Members of SEAL Team TWO participate in a ceremony to award them nearly 60 medals, most of which were earned in combat in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.”

Remember that the awards are likely just for a platoon or two (12-24 men) returning from a rotation. 

Note at least three silver stars, five Vietnam Gallantry Crosses, and a sea of Bronze stars, many with combat “Vs” or stars for multiple awards. National Archives K-82040

The Brown Water Navy, including the rotating SEAL Platoons, in 1968 alone earned an impressive “one Medal of Honor, six Navy Crosses, four Legions of Merit, 24 Silver Stars, 290 Bronze Stars, 363 Navy Commendation Medals, and more than 500 Purple Hearts, with one out of every three Sailors being wounded,” as noted by the NHHC. Of note, the MOH was earned by LTjg Joseph Robert (Bob) Kerry, USNR, of Team ONE.

“Mekong Delta, Vietnam – SEAL team members move in on their target, an enemy bunker complex on Tan Dinh Island, during Operation Bold Dragon III. March 26, 1968.” Note the tiger stripes, short boonie, camo beret, Stoner 63 in the lead frogman’s hands, slung early M16 complete with “jungle mags” carried by the center man, and the early Colt XM148 40mm grenade launcher on the M16 in the rear. NHHC Accession #: K-46398

Seals on Ambush Painting, Acrylic on Canvas, by Marbury Brown; Framed Dimensions 38H X 50 1/2W Accession #: 88-161-EU Established to carry out guerrilla and anti-guerrilla operations in harbors, inland waters, and their adjacent land areas, SEAL (Sea, Air, Land) teams usually operated in 6 man units to gather intelligence and conduct raids, reconnaissance patrols, salvage dives, and, as depicted here, ambushes of enemy forces.

First heading to Vietnam in 1962 in small groups to help train the locals in the ways of the frogman, by 1968 all-up 12-man SEAL platoons, rotating from both Coronado-based Team ONE and Little Creek’s Team TWO, had switched to full-scale direct action in the Vietnamese marsh and littoral, supported by mobile support team (MST) boat elements (the forerunners of today’s SWCC guys) as well as the Seawolves of HAL-3.

As noted by the UDT SEAL Museum:

SEAL platoons carried out day and night ambushes (but much preferred night operations), hit-and-run raids, reconnaissance patrols, and special intelligence collection operations. Calling them the “men with green faces” because of the face camouflage they used, the VC feared SEALs and often put bounties on their heads.

The last SEAL platoon departed Vietnam on 7 December 1971. The last SEAL advisors left Vietnam in March 1973. Between 1965 and 1972 there were 46 SEALs killed in Vietnam. They are forever remembered on the Navy SEAL Memorial at the Museum.

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