Originally Posted by
racedo
$1 billion warship, damaged / destroyed by 2 guys in a fibre glass boat... USS Cole.
So are warships better protected now or worse protected.
But the
Cole was in port - a sitting target! The force protection measures were not great.
The Royal Navy and other major navies have responded to the threat, including:
More weapons on the upper deck
Better sights
Anti FIAC drills built into sea training
0.50 Cal HMG carried by Lynx, later Merlin and now Wildcat
Better night vision equipment
Miniguns
Development of DS30M Mk2, a 30mm cannon controlled from the Operations Room (so operators not cold/wet/hot....), with an integrated Electro-Optical system, computers to predict when the target is moving to, and air bursting ammunition
0.5 Cal HMGs
Wildcat to carry Martlet - a maritime vesrion of the Lightweight Multirole Missile intended to engage small boat type targets (Wildcat HM2 can carry ten)
Experiments with a ship launched version of Martlet
Better and more EO systems to detect and track small craft
.....and other things such as training and tactics, and increased awareness of the maritime domain.