CommunityEditor
03-20-2008, 09:51 PM
America’s maritime security forces plan to devote more attention to the threat of terrorist mines in U.S. ports, top Navy and Coast Guard commanders said Wednesday, even as the Navy scales back its mine warfare ships before its new mine countermeasure systems enter the fleet.
Vice Adm. Evan “Marty” Chanik, commander of 2nd Fleet, said this year’s “Frontier Sentinel,” a joint U.S.-and-Canada maritime security exercise scheduled for June, will include a harbor mine scenario, and he cited requests by the Department of Homeland Security for funding to conduct detailed surveys of prominent ports. Commanders hope that having detailed charts of ports would be a good start towards helping with responses if terrorists mined them.
And Coast Guard Vice Adm. D. Brian Peterman, commander of the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Area command, cited the monthly “warfighter talks” that take place between Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen, at which the harbor mine problem is a frequent topic, Peterman said. The fact that the mine challenge is discussed “at the highest levels” shows that it’s “getting the right attention.”
Chanik and Peterman appeared on a panel at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space exposition in Washington, “Defending the home front,” along with Coast Guard Rear Adm. Christopher C. Colvin, deputy director of operations for U.S. Northern Command; and Jay Cohen, DHS undersecretary for science and technology. Most of the session was devoted to the panel members’ discussions of their agencies’ role in maritime security; none of them mentioned the mine issue until audience questions began afterwards.
The Navy is paring back its fleet of purpose-built mine-warfare ships. The last Osprey-class minesweeper is to be decommissioned by the end of 2008, and commanders plan to make its mission one of several assigned to the new class of multi-purpose littoral combat ships. The Navy took delivery of the LCS mine-warfare module last year, but it has no finished ships on which to test the system, which relies entirely on unmanned sea vehicles to find the mines and an operationally untested helicopter gun to destroy them.
Still, Navy and Coast Guard officials say they are aware of the potential threat from terrorist mines in American ports. Air Force Gen. Victor Renuart, head of NorthCom and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, has placed domestic mine countermeasures on his “integrated priority list,” which will make it more prominent to top U.S. domestic defense officials, Colvin said.
Article: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/03/navy_sas_minewarfare_031908w/
Vice Adm. Evan “Marty” Chanik, commander of 2nd Fleet, said this year’s “Frontier Sentinel,” a joint U.S.-and-Canada maritime security exercise scheduled for June, will include a harbor mine scenario, and he cited requests by the Department of Homeland Security for funding to conduct detailed surveys of prominent ports. Commanders hope that having detailed charts of ports would be a good start towards helping with responses if terrorists mined them.
And Coast Guard Vice Adm. D. Brian Peterman, commander of the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Area command, cited the monthly “warfighter talks” that take place between Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen, at which the harbor mine problem is a frequent topic, Peterman said. The fact that the mine challenge is discussed “at the highest levels” shows that it’s “getting the right attention.”
Chanik and Peterman appeared on a panel at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space exposition in Washington, “Defending the home front,” along with Coast Guard Rear Adm. Christopher C. Colvin, deputy director of operations for U.S. Northern Command; and Jay Cohen, DHS undersecretary for science and technology. Most of the session was devoted to the panel members’ discussions of their agencies’ role in maritime security; none of them mentioned the mine issue until audience questions began afterwards.
The Navy is paring back its fleet of purpose-built mine-warfare ships. The last Osprey-class minesweeper is to be decommissioned by the end of 2008, and commanders plan to make its mission one of several assigned to the new class of multi-purpose littoral combat ships. The Navy took delivery of the LCS mine-warfare module last year, but it has no finished ships on which to test the system, which relies entirely on unmanned sea vehicles to find the mines and an operationally untested helicopter gun to destroy them.
Still, Navy and Coast Guard officials say they are aware of the potential threat from terrorist mines in American ports. Air Force Gen. Victor Renuart, head of NorthCom and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, has placed domestic mine countermeasures on his “integrated priority list,” which will make it more prominent to top U.S. domestic defense officials, Colvin said.
Article: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/03/navy_sas_minewarfare_031908w/