On 29 March the Canadian frigate HMCS Toronto made history by intercepting approximately 1,100 pounds of heroin while conducting counterterrorism operations in the Indian Ocean. What turned out to be one of the world’s largest maritime drug seizures occurred while the Toronto was collecting intelligence off the coast of Tanzania as part of Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150), a multinational maritime-security partnership operating in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean, and Gulf of Oman. Drug trafficking remains a key source of terrorist financing, and this operation was the result of international cooperation between the Royal Canadian Navy, the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Seychelles Coast Guard, the Royal Australian Navy, and other CTF-150 assets. The Toronto’s boarding party discovered the 1,000-plus pounds of heroin hidden in a dhow; the illegal cargo had an estimated street value in excess of $100 million.
Japan’s new P-1 maritime-patrol aircraft is beginning to enter service; the first two jets were delivered to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force on 26 March. Previously known as the P-X, and later the XP-1, they are being built by Kawasaki at Gifu, Japan, with up to 70 of them planned. The P-1s are not expected to be fully operational until 2016, at which time they will begin replacing the venerable P-3 Orion. In the meantime, P-3s are being upgraded for at least another decade of service as P-1 units begin to conduct familiarity training. First flown in 2007, the P-1 has an overall length of approximately 125 feet and a wingspan of 116 feet. The new aircraft are faster and longer-range than the P-3s. They will be fitted with an active electronically scanned-array radar, and they can carry sonobuoys along with a wide array of weapons, including air-to-ground missiles, antiship missiles, torpedoes, depth charges, and mines.
This past spring the Sachsen-class guided-missile frigate FGS Hamburg became the first German warship to fully integrate and deploy with a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. The warship, assigned with the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) to operate in the Navy’s 5th Fleet area of responsibility, has reportedly been spending much of her time in the Arabian Sea along with other elements of the strike group. In 2010 the German sister-frigate Hessen briefly deployed with the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) before detaching for service in the Mediterranean Sea. This time is to be different, however, as the Hamburg is expected to operate with the U.S. carrier throughout her deployment. The German frigate’s commanding officer recently explained to the U.S. Navy’s news service that his ship’s mission is “to safely coordinate the airspace around the carrier and to protect Ike if the situation demands.” To accomplish these tasks, the Hamburg is fitted with an active phased-array radar and SMART-L air-surveillance radar, and carries a mix of SM-2, RIM-116 RAM, and Evolved Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles.