What kind of warship needs to have NLW?

NLW can find many uses in naval-maritime scenarios, and therefore there are no definite limits to exclude one type of warship or other. More than on the “kind of warship,” the distinction should really be done on the type of mission. Maritime security operations [MSO], maritime interdiction operations [MIO], and maritime law enforcement [MLE] are the most likely areas where NLW could be employed. However, self-defense, especially when transiting in restricted waters or while sitting in a foreign harbor, is a major requirement for any type of naval vessel, at any time.

How can NLW prevent attacks on ships or installations?

Most … peacetime operations deal with unknown threats such as terrorists, insurgents, militias, and other criminal perpetrators (pirates, traffickers, etc.) [who] are usually not so helpful as to approach a naval vessel showing their hostile nature and intent. Traditional military tools like Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) or selection through procedures are simply useless when dealing with an unknown boat in a peacetime situation. The risk to shoot and kill a careless tourist or fisherman is way too high to allow trigger-happy reactions. Therefore, NLW have a major role to prevent attacks in at least three different ways: 1) determining the intent; 2) establishing a barrier; 3) taking action without irreversible outcomes in advance, i.e., before being [able] to discriminate the nature of the possible threat.

What is meant by “determining the intent?”

If there is a situation where the nature of an incoming craft is still undefined, NLW can be used to communicate with it, issuing warnings and orders in an unambiguous way. If the craft, after having been warned, maintains a potentially threatening behavior, then it is qualified for further actions, being either lethal or non-lethal, according to the situation and the rules of engagement issued.

What is meant by “escalation in force?”

In some scenarios, once the subject was qualified as potentially threatening, [a] different level of [force] can be applied: first to convince him to stop [or] change behavior; then to deter (i.e., achieving compliance through fear of pain or worse consequences), or to deny or disable. If these actions fail, then a higher level of force could be applied, even including lethal “end of game” (again, if the situation and the rules of engagement would allow such a conclusion). For example, it is unlikely that you would be authorized to sink a boat with environmentalist protesters simply because they failed to stop when instructed to do so, while a boat with bearded men brandishing a RPG [rocket-propelled granade] in a security-troubled area is much more likely to be destroyed on the spot.

What kind of NLW systems can be used for warnings?

Warnings can be issued with the use of acoustic means (using … high-power focused loudspeakers, such as the well-known LRAD, or Long Range Acoustic Device) or optical means (laser and traditional high-power, non-coherent light beams), or even combined audio-optical systems. Other potential solutions could include firing non-lethal flash-bang rounds or grenades loaded with rubber bullets rather than with lethal splinters. In these latter cases, the messages convey also a sort of psychological advice, something like “stop or the consequence could be much worse for you.”

Usually the range is a critical factor for this class of NLW, as their reach should be long enough to allow observing the results and, if required, activating other, more decisive reactions.