Protection of high value waterside assets: A new paradigm

There is ample evidence of the threat to military and civilian facilities from waterborne threats - both surface and subsurface. Until the attack on the USS COLE, traditional methods developed by the Navy for detecting and defeating waterborne attacks had been applications of blue-water technology. They were based on the premise that there is sufficient waterspace over which the defending agency has control (Restricted Waterspace (RW)) to allow remote sensors to detect, classify and track approaching threats and then vector mobile response forces to intercept the threat before it reaches a critical standoff distance from the protected asset.