FORT DIX, N.J., -- The Soldiers of the 72nd Field Artillery Brigade will soon have two more essential pieces of equipment with which to train military members as they prepare to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Soon after the Global War on Terrorism began in Iraq and Afghanistan, insurgents and the Taliban decided one of the more effective ways to attack coalition personnel was through the use of improvised explosive devices.
"Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, have been responsible for approximately 40 percent of all U.S. casualties in Operation Iraqi Freedom," said Lt. Col. Karl Borjes, project manager for Improvised Explosive Device Defeat/Protect Force, according to an article on the Project Manager Close Combat Systems Web site.
A solution was needed to help detect IEDs. The Department of Defense knew there would have to be more than one solution to the problem.
A couple of former Soldiers working for an equipment manufacturer came up with the idea of using a modified blower, much like a leaf or debris blower, to expose the IEDs which are often concealed beneath piles of trash and other debris.
Buffalo Turbine of Springville, N.Y., took on the challenge and soon developed a vehicle-mounted blower called the Cyclone that could blow away the roadside trash and debris with a powerful blast of air. The Cyclone is powered by a Kohler engine, which can generate hurricane-strength air reaching speeds of up to 180 miles per hour with a sustained blast of 175 miles per hour. The air blasts are actually powerful enough to detonate some IEDs. The adjustable front mounted nozzle can direct the air to either the right or left sides or downward to the road.
The Cyclone can be mounted on the 900-series tactical truck or the Mine Resistant Armor Protected vehicles utilizing an extension installation kit. If the blower were to detonate an IED, the damage would be mostly sustained by the blower and not the vehicle, providing a much higher degree of safety and survivability to those inside.
The Cyclone has been used successfully in both Iraq and Afghanistan for at least the past five years.
The second piece of IED-defeating equipment is the Self-Protection Adaptive Roller Kit (SPARK) which is manufactured by Pearson Engineering Limited, a United Kingdom engineering company.
Originally fielded in Iraq in March 2007, the SPARK is one of the most effective weapons in the U.S. military arsenal against IEDs.
The SPARK is a modular mine roller system that is designed to be mounted on nearly all tactical wheeled platforms. The front roller consists of two banks of plastic composite wheels, one bank on the left side and one on the right.
The SPARK provides contact with the ground, causing IEDs to detonate on the roller so the blast is forced more downward and outward instead of under the vehicle.
There are adaptive kits that allow the mounting of other IED-defeat technologies such as the Cyclone, Rhino and Command Wire.
A new, improved version of the SPARK was fielded this past March that includes a third roller bank which will provide full coverage of the vehicles pathway. Another upgrade gives the vehicle operator the ability to control the roller banks.
According to the PM CCS Web site, the SPARK has been credited with saving the lives of hundreds of military personnel.
With the addition of these two pieces of IED training equipment, the training brigade will be better equipped to prepare military personnel for the rigors and challenges of driving in the war zones overseas.
| Date Taken: | 12.10.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 12.10.2009 11:02 |
| Story ID: | 42555 |
| Location: | FORT DIX, NEW JERSEY, US |
| Web Views: | 476 |
| Downloads: | 401 |
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