Austin Bay suggests a private coast guard under Coast Guard supervision to get the number to protect our lengthy coasts.
I've noted the continental United States is no longer a sanctuary. We have a homeland security problem:
We know U.S. seaports are vulnerable to terrorist/saboteur attacks. An enemy nuclear weapon hidden in a hold was a Cold War fear. But here's a hard fact: U.S. coasts are vulnerable to proxy attacks using 21st-century unmanned air and sea vehicles launched a hundred miles offshore.
With every available hull needed overseas in war, how much of the Coast Guard will be on guard? A solution?
Here's a solution I like: Allow states and corporations to hire private maritime security firms operating offshore security patrol vessels. Let them provide police security and firepower to protect offshore assets. Make the firms' Coast Guard auxiliaries and subject to USCG regulation as well as state control.
This is an old idea. In early WWII the Navy and U.S. Coast Guard had to focus on blue-water combat missions. So, Washington deputized private craft to patrol the coasts, looking for U-boats and saboteurs. Ernest Hemingway aboard his fishing boat is the most famous example.
Sure, drones are the flavor of the month. But don't forget the whack-in-a-box that has already been a threat.
And I'll add to this. I've suggested a modularized auxiliary cruiser as a means to quickly get Navy numbers.
We could use smaller vessels with deck space to handle systems mounted in shipping containers (including the whack-in-a-box). One could even use Coast Guard personnel to handle anything too sensitive to simply give private maritime security firms physical control of them.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
NOTE: I'm adding updates on the Last Hamas War in this post.
