Page 28: of Marine News Magazine (May 2012)

28MNMay 2012The use of small craft by terrorist organizations and domestic terrorist cells is a worldwide threat as demon- strated by the bombing of the USNS COLE. The attack on Mumbai, India, in November of 2008, brought the danger to the forefront. Nations realized that to combat this asymmetrical small craft threat, a similar small craft defense ? not replacing, but in parallel with traditional larger platforms ? is required. The world?s littoral areas have become porous entry and exit points for the criminals, smugglers, pirates, and ter-rorists. Every nation with a coastline, including lakes and rivers, struggles to secure these areas. Beyond this, the demand for coastal and littoral defense increases daily. As economic conditions sometimes cause large internationalnavies to reallocate resources closer to home, smaller nations ? with new vulnerabilities ? find themselves rethinking their own homeland defense arrangements. Rogue states have built and continue to build vast fleets of asymmetrical threat small high-speed craft and, of course, the scourge of piracy is on the rise. As the need foran effective defense becomes more evident, the ability to anticipate threat assets and to move quickly to design and outfit craft to neutralize those assets is at the very tip of the spear. Enter the small combat craft: it comes in many shapes and sizes, domestically built and ready for a full range of missions. And, there are numerous experienced and innovative U.S.-based firms ready to deliver. Late last year, Metal Shark Aluminum Boats was award- ed a contract to replace the U.S. Coast Guard?s fleet of Response Boat ? Small (RB-S) vessels. The substantial Combat CraftBig Value in Small Packages Metal Shark Aluminum Boats RibcraftMilitary appetitefor powerful andagile smaller platforms heats up.MN#5 (18-31):MN 2011 Layouts 5/7/2012 9:57 AM Page 28