Unfortunately, I rarely agree with harsh military action, but when it comes to matters like this the non-military action is largely too complex to consider. We cannot guarantee any money paid to a country like Somalia in aid or whatever would prevent piracy.
The best solution would be to launch attacks on the pirates supply ships. Sadly the cost of keeping a naval ship in the region is likely too high, especially with aircraft carriers being ridiculously large and little to no capability on the small scale.
A craft capable of carrying 2-3 aircraft would be capable of hitting these pirates where it hurts, but a ship carrying 24 aircraft and 5,000 people isn't cost effective to have sit in an ocean for a handful of attacks.
This problem is likely only to get worse, the next carrier in the US fleet will have ~75 aircraft, which if following current metrics will mean a crew of ~15,000.
Honestly, if this situation continues, I wouldn't doubt if companies started spending the money to defend themselves. ~$16 billion is lost in piracy a year, which is enough to buy 3 Nimitz class aircraft carriers and their full compliment.
Current Nimitz class carriers normally carry 48 combat aircraft and 16 support aircraft, and have a crew of 5k-6k (2480 in the air wing, the rest as ship's compliment). The upcoming Gerald R. Ford class will carry more aircraft, but only require about 4600 crew, and be roughly the same size.
But quibbling aside, there is no reason you need to send a carrier group to deal with this situation. The (already dispatched) USS Boxer is an amphibious assault ship that supports helicopters and VTOL aircraft (including Harrier II, SuperCobra, and Sea Knights), which will be more suited for dealing with pirate mother ships and coastal bases. It has a crew of roughly 1000.
The best solution would be to launch attacks on the pirates supply ships. Sadly the cost of keeping a naval ship in the region is likely too high, especially with aircraft carriers being ridiculously large and little to no capability on the small scale.
A craft capable of carrying 2-3 aircraft would be capable of hitting these pirates where it hurts, but a ship carrying 24 aircraft and 5,000 people isn't cost effective to have sit in an ocean for a handful of attacks.
This problem is likely only to get worse, the next carrier in the US fleet will have ~75 aircraft, which if following current metrics will mean a crew of ~15,000.
Honestly, if this situation continues, I wouldn't doubt if companies started spending the money to defend themselves. ~$16 billion is lost in piracy a year, which is enough to buy 3 Nimitz class aircraft carriers and their full compliment.