Defence against asymmetric threats a pressing concern in the littorals

Feb. 10, 2011 - PRLog -- In a presentation delivered to the naval community, Commodore David Wolfe of the British Royal Navy and the Director of Knowledge Management for NATO Allied Joint Force Command gave an operational update of NATO’s attempts to counteract piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

As Commodore Wolfe commented, NATO operations off the Horn of Africa are taking place “…in an area of the world where OPVs are sorely lacking…” In the presentation (Source: Complimentary Ship Defence in the Littorals Download Centre, www.littoralshipdefence.com), “Squeezing the Balloon: NATO Navies Counterstrike Piracy in the Gulf of Aden,” Wolfe goes on to assert that “…if some of the regional states had that capability then it would free some of the more expensive assets to do their rightful business”.

As well as Commodore Wolfe’s theory on how the NATO mission will require positioning patrols effectively along this 'motorway' - in effect, 'squeezing the balloon', Captain BWJ Bekkering (Head Policy Support COMRNLN, Royal Netherlands Navy) is due to address the naval community at the end of March on “Littoral Operations in the Gulf of Aden”. Captain Bekkering’s briefing will inform the audience of mission parameters of HNLMS Johan de Witt in the Gulf of Aden as well as emerging requirements and Lessons Learned in the littorals.

Continuing this theme of ship defence in the littorals against the asymmetric threat, Captain Phillip Heyl (Senior USCG Representative, US AFRICOM) will address the Ship Defence in the Littorals audience on “Asymmetric Solutions to Littoral Threats: The West African Example.” Looking firstly at African led solutions such as the AMLEP and APS results, Captain Heyl will then offer a case study of regional cooperation and how building partner capacity in Africa has helped to counter transnational threats.

Ship Defence in the Littorals 2011 will take place in Amsterdam on 28th–30th March 2011 where you will be able to download Commodore Wolfe’s full presentation: “Squeezing the Balloon: NATO Navies Counterstrike Piracy in the Gulf of Aden.” Additional articles, speaker interviews and other downloadable material are available online at www.littoralshipdefence.com. The full agenda including full details of the briefings by Captain Bekkering and Captain Heyl can also be found there. Bookings can be made by emailing defence@iqpc.co.uk, or by calling +44 (0) 20 7368 9300.

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