Let us not forget pirates still exist. In fact, SEAL Team Six exterminated a pack of Somali pirates a couple years back. And because they’re still a threat, the US Navy developed advanced software that flags high risk pirate attack zones.
According to Discovery, the app takes weather, known pirate locations, vulnerable shipping routes and past history into consideration. Thousands of simulations are run, which determines the most probable areas of attack. When the factors all align, the alarms go off.
Naval researchers update the anti-pirate program every 12 hours with new data about winds, wave heights and
undersea currents — all factors that affect the pirates’ ability to operate small skiffs to attack commercial ships. The model, known as the Piracy Attack Risk Surface (PARS), also uses classified reports about pirate whereabouts from captured sailors or unmanned drone aircraft patrolling the skies.
The result is a color-coded map that divides the ocean into zones of probability of pirate strikes, much like NOAA’s hurricane forecast.
In addition, the US Navy is developing a high-speed, remote control boat called the Predator, which can run down pirates with a swiftness. Excellent. [Discovery]