Thoughts on the MV Win Far Shooting

This is the official Navy news story regarding the SH-60B Seahawk that was fired upon by Somali pirates.

At approximately 8:00 a.m. local time, Aug. 26, Somali Pirates aboard Motor Vessel (M/V) Win Far, fired what appeared to be a large caliber weapon at a U.S. Navy SH-60B Helicopter from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 49, embarked aboard USS Chancellorsville (CG 62).

No rounds of ammunition struck the SH-60B. The SH-60 crew did not return fire. No personnel injuries resulted from the incident.

Win Far is a Taiwanese-flagged vessel that was pirated April 6. During the past 135 days it has been used as a "mother ship" to conduct other known pirate attacks, most notably the U.S. flagged Maersk-Alabama in April.

The helicopter was conducting a routine surveillance flight of M/V Win Far currently held at anchorage by Somali pirates south of Garacad, Somalia, when the incident occurred.

During the flight, aircrew observed activity but could not ascertain they were fired upon until their return to Chancellorsville and review of Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) video, which recorded the incident. The helicopter was approximately 3,000 yards from Win Far when it was fired upon.

Two images of the incident are given (see here and here), and a short video of the incident was posted on Flickr here. I am undecided what I think of this. Given the apparent inaccuracy over the last few years of Somali pirates when operating any weapons, I am not sure a Somali pirate could hit the broad side of a barn standing still in an open field at 3,000 yards with a full magazine. It is therefore hardly surprising that a Somali pirate couldn't shoot a moving helicopter from a ship at sea from 3,000 yards. It is also unclear (to me) what kind of weapon was used, although it looks like a rifle of some kind, that appears to not have the range to hit the helicopter when aiming directly at it at an incline. Lets keep in mind when viewing the imagery, the FLIR gives us a good picture, but objects are not as close as they may appear.

With the exception of a MANPAD, I am unable to think of a weapon I would be too concerned about from a Somali pirate at 3,000 yards, and last I heard pirates don't have MANPADs. I am also not familiar with a weapon system on a SH-60B that can kill a single pirate without causing collateral damage from 3,000 yards, so the suggestion that the Navy needs to shoot back under this scenario also seems a bit unrealistic.

So other than identifying a Somali pirate who has clearly had no professional training with his weapon, thus is nothing more than a hired idiot with a rifle (literally), did we really learn anything? In a way, we did learn one thing. Pirates will be aggressive once they take a ship and have hostages. All that does is, based on the way the pirates shot at US Navy assets during the Maersk Alabama incident, confirm what we already know.

As far as pirate tactical evolutions I have stated I am concerned about, I do not see this incident as representative of those concerns. The only detail that surprised me was to learn this is the first time pirates have shot at our helicopters. I would have guessed they did it all the time, although based on previous comments by US naval leaders in the area, it doesn't sound like we get very close to the pirates who have already hijacked a ship that often, so previous opportunities to shoot at US forces would have been scarce.