MISSION BRIEF
COMPETITION · MEB · 48 HRSPartner-nation resupply of a grounded outpost in the South China Sea under gray-zone coercion: water cannon, blocking maneuvers, ramming, and swarming maritime militia, modeled on Second Thomas Shoal operations.
Enable a partner's lawful resupply of its own outpost without giving the coercing state a pretext, and without allowing a mariner death to force escalation.
Resupply delivered; no partner mariner lost; every coercive act documented to evidentiary standard; alliance obligations clarified before, not after, the incident.
- Support a partner-led mission where US forces cannot take the lead.
- Document coercion in a form that survives legal and public scrutiny.
- Define in advance what event triggers an alliance response.
OPENING INJECTS
5 SEEDED- T+00:11SEAMED · S2Coast guard and militia mass along the resupply track
Overnight imagery shows eight coast guard cutters and more than 30 militia vessels positioned along the only navigable approach to the shoal. Two of the cutters are 12,000-ton hulls, far larger than any partner vessel in the mission.
- T+00:48SEAHIGH · S3Water cannon disables a partner resupply boat
Two cutters direct high-pressure water cannon at a wooden-hulled partner supply boat, shattering the pilothouse windows and injuring three crew, one seriously. The boat loses steering and is drifting toward a militia raft-up. A US vessel is 6 nm away.
- T+01:30AIRMED · FIRESUnsafe intercept of the ISR aircraft covering the mission
A fighter crosses within 100 m of the maritime patrol aircraft covering the resupply and releases flares in its flight path. The aircraft breaks off, leaving a 40-minute coverage gap over the shoal at the critical point of the mission.
- T+02:20CYBERMED · CYBERPartner navy comms portal breached mid-mission
The partner's coordination portal — used for the resupply schedule and boat manifests — shows unauthorized access from infrastructure previously reported in PRC-linked intrusions against regional governments. The next two resupply windows were listed on it.
- T+03:15SEAHIGH · S5Ramming and boarding of a partner small boat
A militia vessel rams a partner rigid-hull boat; crew armed with knives and axes board it, seize equipment, and puncture the hull. Video is being taken from both sides. The partner requests a statement on whether the mutual defense treaty applies to a coast guard vessel.