Well, it appears that not everyone is convinced by the current mantra of COIN only.
From
War is Boring:
U.S. Should Think Twice Before Rushing to an All-Counter-Insurgency Force
But we shouldn’t forget that COIN is not the only kind of potential battle out there. Today the military is mostly worried about building stuff, but it could very well be called upon to break things later. We need to be flexible.
Consider: In Darfur, the Sudanese government has used tanks and helicopters to de-populate villages, and is smuggling arms to rebel groups in neighboring countries. In Myanmar, we’ve seen the Junta use conventional troops to ruthlessly hunt down political opponents and seize aid. In Zimbabwe, an unpopular, corrupt government clings to power through brutality and military might. In North Korea, we see an oppressive regime becoming a nuclear power.
Increasingly, the world’s “bad actors” mix conventional troops with insurgent tactics, in a form of “hybrid war.” (Marine General James Mattis has emphasized this point.) Tackling these challenges might mean an equally hybrid response, with fighter jets and destroyers lobbing high explosives, and COIN ground troops following up, post-combat.
It’s important that we recognize the wide range of threats we face today, and have the right tools and the strategies to deal with each.
Going back to the issue of piracy, HMS
Portland has had some success, including this
very recent interception.
In co-ordination with a Spanish maritime patrol aircraft, HMS Portland's crew identified, pursued and subsequently conducted a boarding of the suspicious vessels. They found articles that indicated the skiffs had been involved in or were about to conduct an act of piracy, and were clearly not those of innocent fishing vessels.
Also mentioned
here, and on the MOD website.