EagleWerx Explosive Excavation Device Testing

Photo By Sgt. Andrea Notter | Explosive Excavation Devices sit on a table before testing begins at Fort Campbell, Ky., Aug. 14, 2023. These inventions from EagleWerx have the potential to decrease the time needed to dig fighting positions by hours, and save Soldiers vital time on the battlefield.  

FORT CAMPBELL, KY, UNITED STATES

08.16.2023

Story by Sgt. Andrea Notter 

101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Soldiers with the 39th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team “Strike,” 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), tested equipment designed and created at EagleWerx during Operation Lethal Eagle III (OLE III), a three-week, division-wide training exercise at Fort Campbell, Ky., Aug. 14, 2023.
Inventions from EagleWerx, such as the explosive excavation device, can save Soldiers vital time on the battlefield. These devices have the potential to decrease the time needed to dig fighting positions by hours.
“Digging a two-man fighting position could take 4-6 hours,” said 1st Lt. David Smitt, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team innovation officer for EagleWerx. “With our excavation, it could take around 15 minutes.”
Rick Machowski, assistant maker space manager at EagleWerx, said that the time Soldiers will be saving will save lives on the battlefield. It helps them to focus on more important and less tedious aspects of preparing their fighting positions.
“If you spend all of that time digging a hole, you lose time for other things like camouflage or creating obstacles on the battlefield,” said Machowski. “Because of the time you lost, the enemy has an advantage.”
Soldiers will have the ability to continue to develop the excavation device, as well as test it monthly and receive more training with the engineering school. The ultimate goal is to refine the technology to the point it can be used on the battlefield.
At EagleWerx, Soldiers are using materials already easily available to create solutions to problems they face. Since it is not difficult or costly to obtain supplies, this also helps make the equipment more accessible to even the lower enlisted Soldiers.
“We’re trying to make our components simple so it doesn’t require much thought or training to be put into the execution,” said Smitt. “All you’d have to do is set it up, back away, detonate and repeat.”
Smitt also said that they are trying to keep the system durable and lightweight, at about five lbs. or less. One of the most challenging aspects is experimenting with different materials to make the system perform the way they want it to.
“We’re using things like plastic, copper, iron and glass filaments to try different techniques to get the most effective result,” said Smitt. “The entire system is designed by Soldiers, built by Soldiers and used by Soldiers.”
The ability to create new equipment allows Soldiers at all levels to be creative and involved but also lowers costs. Smitt estimates that since they are building the system in-house, the cost for materials is only about $9; if it were bought commercially, the same device could cost hundreds of dollars.
Machowski said the excavation device is proof that Soldiers, especially privates and specialists, need a place like EagleWerx to create solutions to the problems they face. More often than not, the Soldiers actually facing these issues have an idea for a solution that could benefit the entire Army, but are held back by leadership distanced from the issues they are facing.
“EagleWerx is a tactical innovation center that allows Soldiers to bring their ideas here and turn them into reality,” said Machowski. “It helps defeat the mentality of ‘it’s always been this way and it’s always going to be this way.”

• Date Taken: 08.16.2023
• Date Posted: 08.16.2023 20:16
• Story ID: 451493
• Location: FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US