Coast Guard uses lasers, sensors in exercise

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Coast Guard used lasers and sensors instead of live ammunition to practice firing on a simulated hostile boat Thursday during drills on Lake Erie.

The practice, held three to five miles from Cleveland, involved two 25-foot boats, one acting as a hostile vessel, and the 140-foot cutter Neah Bay, said Chief Petty Officer Robert Lanier of the 9th Coast Guard District in Cleveland.

The Coast Guard reported no conclusions whether use of lasers and sensors — put on the hostile boat to determine if it had been hit by the lasers — served as a viable alternative to using live ammunition for training. Lanier did not know if such training would continue at any Great Lakes port.

“It’s the only time we’ve had a demonstration out on the Great Lakes with this kind of gear,” he said. “There were some hits and some misses, as would be expected in an exercise. We’re in a learning phase to determine if this technology is adequate” for training.

Coast Guard practice using live ammunition has occurred off the East Coast on open water.

The Coast Guard last year dropped its proposal to create 34 live ammunition training zones on the Great Lakes, including four on Lake Erie. Anglers complained about safety issues, and environmentalists worried that lead from ammunition dropping in the lake water could harm wildlife.