Naval Postgraduate School Team Helps Defend Against Narco Semi-Subs: "A Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) faculty-student team has developed a decision tool that is changing the way the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security think about defending against sea-based narco smugglers.
The team's 'defender-attacker' model determines the best mix and deployment of search platforms to detect and classify self-propelled semi-submersibles that are estimated to carry up to 75 percent of all Colombian cocaine destined for the United States.
'These mini-subs can carry tons of cocaine and are very stealthy,' said Operations Research Distinguished Professor Gerald Brown. 'They're hard to find because they have quiet diesel engines and low visual, acoustic, radar and infrared signatures. They also carry the maritime equivalent of fuzz busters, so all the usual means we use to detect enemy craft don't work well.'"
