How terrorists use the sea is the topic of the latest analytical report by Lt. Col. Alex Carter, U.S. Army, and DKI APCSS alumnus Captain Damian Fernando, Sri Lankan Navy.

In their paper, Carter and Fernando share the case study of how Sri Lankan has dealt with this maritime challenge.  Looking back to Sri Lanka’s civil war, their navy developed the Small Boat program to combat LTTE Sea Tigers.  Special Boat Squadrons were used to conduct reconnaissance and surveillance inside LTTE-held territories.  Rapid Action Boat Squadrons then began using swarm tactics to engage in combat operations.

According to the authors, “A counter-terrorism strategy evolves based on the threats that a government must consider.  While the land domain has been the scene of many a terrorist event in the past we should not rule out that the maritime domain may receive more attention from bad actors in the future.”

Read the full paper online at this link  or 

https://dkiapcss.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rise-of-the-small-boats-2018.pdf

 

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency of the Government of the United States of America or of the Sri Lankan Defence Department.