There is no open information on the target acquisition capability of the Hellfire guidance system at 50,000 feet either, or reacquisition after a drop to lower altitude.

So, either Hellfire is not the right choice at all, or the Reaper would have to descend to a slant range of about, say, 5 miles or less to the target in order to launch. This requires Reaper to come down from its 50,000 ft Hunter mode to about 20,000 ft or so in perhaps 10 minutes or less. This is a reasonable Killer mode of operation.

Thus, to maintain continuous coverage of the area from 50-60 thousand feet and allow for one Killer mode at a time would require a least two Reapers at a time to be covering the wide area.

The alternative is simply to allow for one engagement at a time. (That is, unless a more suitable inexpensive missile or JADAM can be found for launch at altitude.)

This solution is only a partial one. There would still be the need to arm the ships and to staff them with trained men.

There would be a few command and control issues to solve, and target ID issues as well, but these have well-known solutions, including IFF capabilities ported aboard the ships to prevent attacks on innocent vessels. The few trained men aboard that would man the weapons on ships could be vested with the IFF code of the day as well, in addition to a laser designator for a wide variety of weapons.

International cooperation would be essential, I believe, particularly if the costs of such an approach were to be shared between the many users of the Indian Ocean.

Is this a US problem?

It's my understanding that the Saudi tanker that was hijacked was bound for the United States. Sounds like a U. S. interest to me.

Is this a US problem?

Definitely. Freedom of passage high seas and in coastal waters is in everyones best interest. Our navy can help to ensure unfettered commerce and to build better relationships with some folks we have had problems with. This is a opportunity for a win/win.

The US Navy protecting Iranian live and commerce? HUGE public relations win.

It seems to me security guards and/or soldiers on the ships themselves and strikes on pirate bases would be more effective. They may not be able to track the small boats the pirates are using, but they should be able to track where they take a supertanker to ransom it off.

If more ships are needed in the region shouldn't they be supplied primarily by the locals; the Egyptians, the Saudis, the Ethiopians and the other gulf states and states on the east coast of Africa?

we have a common interest with Iran in having free & safe shipping lanes in that part of the world

A point I've been making for some time. Additionally, we have a greater capacity for doing something about it than they do.

I wonder if the Egyptians can shift resources out of the Med and down the Red Sea as this is an economic threat to their stability --- still need to spin this one out a bit....