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hospital ship. 347 For example, hospital ships may be armed with defensive weapon systems,including when necessary certain crew-served weapons, as a prudent anti-terrorism/forceprotection (AT/FP) measure to defend against small boat attacks. 348 On the other hand, crews ofhospital ships should not be armed such that they would appear to an enemy military force topresent an offensive threat.Equipping hospital ships with other defensive devices – such as chaff for protectionagainst over-the-horizon weapons or similar threats – is not prohibited. 349 However, suchdevices, like weapons, must not be used to commit acts harmful to enemy military forces actingin conformity with the law of war. 3507.13 CHARTERED MEDICAL TRANSPORT SHIPSShips chartered for medical transport purposes shall be authorized to transport equipmentexclusively intended for the treatment of wounded and sick members of armed forces or for theprevention of disease, provided that the particulars regarding their voyage have been notified tothe adverse Power and approved by the latter. 351 The adverse Power shall preserve the right toboard the carrier ships, but not to capture them or seize the equipment carried. 3527.13.1 Agreement to Place Neutral Observers on Chartered Medical Transports. Byagreement among the parties to the conflict, neutral observers may be placed on board such ships347 For example, Michael Sirak, US Navy seeks to revise laws of war on hospital ships, Jane’s Defense Weekly 1-3(Aug. 19, 2003) (“The USN installed both encrypted communications devices and 50-cal machine guns on theUSNS Comfort (T-AH 20), one of its two dedicated hospital ships, before it deployed in January to the Middle Easttheatre to support the US-led Operation ‘Iraqi Freedom’, a US Department of Defense spokesman told Jane’sDefence Weekly. … Furthermore, USN officials say the small arms currently allowed on hospital ships, such assidearms and rifles, are not enough to thwart an attack by a non-state actor like a terrorist group. They say thelimited protection afforded to these vessels under international law would be unlikely to deter terrorists and, unlikelawful belligerents, terrorists would consider them an attractive ‘soft’ target. Therefore, they argue that it isnecessary to place ‘crew-served’ weapons like 30-cal and 50-cal machine guns on them, exclusively for defence, tofend off attacks by swarming, heavily armed speed boats or suicide craft.”).348 Jane G. Dalton, Future Navies – Present Issues, 59 NAVAL WAR COLLEGE REVIEW 17, 27 (Winter 2006) (notingthat a problem “facing hospital ships is the need to arm them for force protection against USS Cole-type attacks” andthat “chaff and flares [would be] ineffective against a determined suicide attack like that launched against Cole,”).349 See 2004 UK MANUAL 13.124 (“Hospital ships may be equipped with purely deflective means of defence, suchas chaff and flares.”).350 Refer to § 7.12.6 (Forfeiture of Protection of Hospital Ships and Sick Bays).351 GWS-SEA art. 38 (“Ships chartered for that purpose shall be authorized to transport equipment exclusivelyintended for the treatment of wounded and sick members of armed forces or for the prevention of disease, providedthat the particulars regarding their voyage have been notified to the adverse Power and approved by the latter.”).352 GWS-SEA art. 38 (“The adverse Power shall preserve the right to board the carrier ships, but not to capture themor seize the equipment carried.”).465