Armored Vehicles Stand Up to Threats Posed by Roadside Bombs

Defend America ^ | February, 2004 | Army Corporal Joe Niesen, 350th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

[Cannoneer No. 4]

FORWARD OPERATING BASE RIDGWAY, Iraq — The U.S. Army has a few new weapons to use in its war against the threat of improvised explosive devices on Iraq 's roadways.

Soldiers from the 82 nd Airborne Division's Task Force Pathfinder now use the Husky, Meerkat, Buffalo and RG-31 armored car.

The soldiers, many of whom had never seen the equipment before the training they received in theater, have quickly grown fond of the vehicles, which were designed both in the United States and South Africa .

"All of our training has been off-the-cuff," said Capt. Michael Biankowski, commander of A Company, 27 th Engineers and Task Force Pathfinder.

The soldiers of Pathfinder had to learn everything about the vehicles in theater. The mechanics had to learn how to repair them, the operators, how to drive them, and commanders, how to use them. For operators, the driving is the easy part. It's learning to operate and interpret the data collected by the sensors while driving that's the challenge.

"Probably the hardest part is the multitasking involved. You have to drive, listen and watch both the screen and the road around you as you drive," said Cpl. Robert Scott, a vehicle operator on the Husky detection vehicle.

The vehicles, primarily designed to detect buried mines, have been searching the roadways for homemade bombs and other threats to soldiers on convoys and patrols. So far, the equipment has proven more than effective for a number of reasons, chiefly the detection abilities of the Husky and Meerkat vehicles.

"We've found at least six IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in the short time that we have had the vehicles," said 1 st Lt. David Moore, a platoon leader with A Company, 27 th Engineers.

Another reason the soldiers in Task Force Pathfinder have taken to the vehicles is that each is heavily armored and designed to resist blasts from both mines and roadside bombs.

"These vehicles are designed to take a blast," said Pfc. Lester Rhodes, a combat engineer and operator of the RG-31 armored car. "The safety given by these vehicles allows us to focus more energy on finding the rounds. Plus, it (the RG-31) is comfortable, like riding in an armored Cadillac."

Since acquiring the equipment, the task force has attempted to support the entire division's area of responsibility. The vehicles will be handed over to replacing units and remain in theater as long as the threat of roadside bombs exists.

However, many of the soldiers assigned to Pathfinder are hopeful that the equipment will be standard issue for engineering units.

"At first, I thought that it was just another Army toy," said Scott. "After taking them out on missions and finding IEDs, they definitely do the job. They are the best pieces of equipment out there."

A few of the vehicles have already been sent to the combat engineer school at Fort Leonardwood , Mo. , where soldiers are now being trained, according to Biankowski.

The team will continue to provide support to units in the area throughout its deployment and prepare to train its replacements. The awkward-looking vehicles will visit various bases and attempt to ensure that at least the routes they cover will be free of roadside bombs, and soldiers can feel a little safer as they continue to traverse and patrol Iraq's dangerous roads.

"Every round we find is one less that could injure or kill a soldier,” said Sgt. 1 st Class Martin Humphreys, a Pathfinder platoon sergeant. “So I'm glad we have this equipment."

U.S. Army Pfc. Lester Rhodes, an RG-31 armored car operator with Taskforce 'Pathfinder,' compares the vehicle to an 'armored Cadillac'. U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Joe Niesen

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Stryker Brigade Combat Team Tactical Studies Group (Chairborne)

Free Republic Treadhead Ping

[Cannoneer No. 4]

ping

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Thanks, Rags

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Interim Vehicle Mounted Mine Detector [IVMMD]

[Cannoneer No. 4]

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Meercat

[Cannoneer No. 4]

The pic at Post 5 is a Husky

[Old Sarge]

Thanx for the PING, Gunner.

We're lovin' this news. Any new piece of equipment of new vehicle is going to get a dang good field test nowadays.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

DESCRIPTION: IVMMD is a vehicle-mounted metallic mine detection system. IVMMD will support contingency operations, and will provide the maneuver commander a partial Ground Standoff Minefield Detection System (GSTAMIDS) capability. The lead vehicle (Meerkat) is a single-occupant two-wheel drive vehicle, and serves as the primary mine detection vehicle. The trailer system (Husky) is a single occupant four-wheel drive vehicle that serves as the prime mover for the full width mine proofing/detonation trailers. It can also serve as an alternate detection vehicle. Both vehicles are anti-tank mine overpass-capable, and feature “frangible” components, which support quick repair of the vehicle, within two hours of a mine blast. Both vehicles are blast protected (15lb TNT equivalent).

CONCEPT OF EMPLOYMENT: Multiple systems will be deployed in echelon to cover the width of the route. The number of vehicles, the terrain and the threat determines vehicle spacing. The Meerkat finds and marks the location of metallic cased mines within one meter. Soldiers advance, from behind the proofing trailers, using handheld detectors to sweep up to the suspected location. The suspected mine is probed to confirm its presence and neutralized according to unit SOP. These actions continue until the route is swept and proofed.

[Lurker]

'bout damn time.

L

[Cannoneer No. 4]

1CER's Spr Paul Tewkesbury provides cover while Spr Lukas Parkinson checks for mines. Photo by WO2 Geoff Fox

[Cannoneer No. 4]

The Interim Vehicle-Mounted Mine Detector (IVMMD) is the Army's only vehicle-based mine detection platform. Purchased in 1996 from Rolling Stock Division in South Africa during a foreign comparative test, it consists of a lead detection vehicle (Meerkat), a proofing system (Husky with detonation trailers) and spares (red and blue packs). It detects large metallic antitank mines on routes. The detonation trailers, pulled by the Husky, provide a full-width proofing capability through a series of offset wheels. The red packs provide spare front and rear wheel assemblies, and the blue packs provide additional spares.

The Meerkat and the Husky are antitank mine overpass-capable and have a reduced vehicle weight and low ground pressure tires. These vehicles employ an angled hull and armor to provide operator survivability in blast mine encounters. Both vehicles have frangible wheel assemblies that shear off at designated points in a mine strike. The red pack front and rear wheel assemblies are used to repair the system rapidly, typically in less than two hours. Vehicle teleoperation is being developed for this system to gain standoff between soldiers and mine locations.

Ten systems have been purchased and are in contingency stocks at Sierra Army Depot. The IVMMD system is a starting point for the development of future ground vehicle mine detection systems.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

The RG-31 MK3 Mine Protected APC is a 4x4 armoured vehicle with a combat mass of 8400 kg. The all-steel, welded armour, monocoque hull protects the crew against small arms fire and anti-tank mine detonations. In standard APC configuration, this air-conditioned vehicle carries a crew of 10 (driver plus 9). A large rear door and two front doors ensure speedy and easy exit and entrance. With automatic transmission, permanent 4x4 drive and a two speed (high and low) transfer case the RG-31 MK3 is easy to drive, both on and off road. With a modular interior layout the vehicle can be configured as an APC, command vehicle, ambulance, surveillance vehicle and for many other uses. RG-31 is the mine-protected vehicle of choice of peacekeepers.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

RG-31 Mine Protected Vehicle (MPV)

[serurier]

Thank you very much , I think to road side bomb , army need more UAV .

[John Jorsett]

I came up with an anti-roadside bomb tactic that I wonder if anyone is using. The people who plant the bombs look for repetitive actions on the part of our troops, such as pulling over to the same spot each time for a rest break. What if we deliberately demonstrated such a repetitive action, except that we'd institute long-term and long-range surveillance of the spot and watch for the bad guys to plant a bomb there. As soon as we saw it, we'd either kill them on the spot or try to follow them back to their buddies and get a bunch at one time. An interesting idea, I thought.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

General Dynamics Land Systems makes RG-31s, too.

[archy]

Meercat

That thing surely does remind me of something from an earlier day....

Pookie:

[archy]

The pic at Post 5 is a Husky

Also sometimes known as a *Chubby* when the primary vehicle and train-string of trailers are all operating as a unit, often in conjunction with a Meerkat.

RSD *Chubby* info *here*

[archy]

1CER's Spr Paul Tewkesbury provides cover while Spr Lukas Parkinson checks for mines. Photo by WO2 Geoff Fox

Presumably practice training mines, since Sapper Paul's F88 AusSteyer has a blank adapter screwed into the flash hider. Either that, or they're taking this *humanitarian peacekeeping* concept a step or two too far....

[SLB]

I spent several hours this morning with some of folks from DARPA working on similiar and related programs. The technology is not advanced enough to enter operational testing now, but some virtual and constructive experiments are on the horizon with the operational aspects about two or so years away. Just depends on how much money congress is willing to insert.

[archy]

I spent several hours this morning with some of folks from DARPA working on similiar and related programs. The technology is not advanced enough to enter operational testing now, but some virtual and constructive experiments are on the horizon with the operational aspects about two or so years away. Just depends on how much money congress is willing to insert.

Good, 'cause despite the *Princess Di* anti-landmine efforts, the things are NOT going away...and there's already the residue of 75 years worth of the things waiting for their short moment of glory.

Recent developments using nylon Belleville washers for firing pin springs and ceramic or tempered glass firing pins make detection even more difficult, with plastic and other nonmetallic cases now most common.

It's clear that both the *brute force* methods such as flails and plows and the scientific detection units are both needed. There'll be plenty of work for both for years to come.

[SLB]

Recent developments using nylon Belleville washers for firing pin springs and ceramic or tempered glass firing pins make detection even more difficult, with plastic and other nonmetallic cases now most common.

Exactly what they are working on. Right now some of the fancier ones use sniffers, but the cost is out of this world. The technology has got to get cheaper, but that is in in the wings now.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thanks for posting the article, Cannoneer.

With adult supervision on this thread, maybe this pic won't
incite Freepers to misbehave - this time. (^:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

82nd Airborne Division, ping!

[archy]

Right now some of the fancier ones use sniffers, but the cost is out of this world.

And can be spoofed by dummy devices with real explosive charges but no detonating mechanism, to be planted as part of a mix of live devices, including some particularly intended to attack those intending removal or disruption. They may not stop the clearing of an area so seeded, but can certainly delay the effort.

-archy-/-

[archy]

"All of our training has been off-the-cuff," said Capt. Michael Biankowski, commander of A Company, 27 th Engineers and Task Force Pathfinder.

The soldiers of Pathfinder had to learn everything about the vehicles in theater. The mechanics had to learn how to repair them, the operators, how to drive them, and commanders, how to use them. For operators, the driving is the easy part. It's learning to operate and interpret the data collected by the sensors while driving that's the challenge.

Hands-on, real world, and practical as hell, conducted by those with little more experience in those vehicles to date, but they're building an outstanding database from which more improvements will come.

This is the way it should be with such cutting-edge, specialized equipment earning its spurs. Out-standing!

-archy-/-

[colorado tanker]

Thanks for the ping. It's good news that we're getting the right gear in place to deal with the IED's.

Good point, Archy. All that time, money and good feelings wasted to "abolish" mines. Fact is, any force feeling threatened will use them and it doesn't matter one bit what the UN or Princess Di's ghost thinks about it. It's a dangerous idea in that it might lull our planners into thinking we don't need to defend against 'em. Guess Iraq eliminated that problem.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

You're welcome.

With adult supervision on this thread, maybe this pic won't incite Freepers to misbehave

I don't know, Rags. This type of thread tends to attract rude, crude, and socially unacceptable un-PC tread head types.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

The Soldier pictured in the poster is PFC Vernon L. Haught of Co F, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment. PFC Haught was returning from guard duty the morning of 6 January, 1945 when this photo was taken. The 325th GIR was in Ordimont, Belgium.

The statement was made on 23 December, 1944 by a PFC Martin (First name unknown) while the 325th GIR was in Fraiture, Belgium. As the story goes Elements of the U.S 3rd Armored Division were retreating from the Germans in the Ardennes forest when a sergeant in a tank destroyer spotted an American digging a foxhole. The GI, PFC Martin, of CO F, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment looked up and asked " Are you looking for a safe place?" "Yeah" answered the tanker. "Well, buddy," he drawled, "just pull your tank in behind me.....I'm the 82d Airborne, and this is as far as the bastards are going!"

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

This type of thread tends to attract rude, crude, and socially unacceptable un-PC tread head types.

That's not misbehavior...lol!

I'm not telling. *g*

[SAMWolf]

<P. We can always break the Schwere Minenraumer out of mothballs. :-)

[SAMWolf]

Un-PC is good!!

TreadHead is Better!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

So this equipment was designed by the South Africans?

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Yep.

The Meercat looks a lot like something the Rhodesians built 30 years ago. Lots of Rhodesians ended up in south Africa.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Here is a link to a PDF file of the :

General Dynamics RG Series Tactical Vehicles

Made in Canada?

[Cannoneer No. 4]

I think RG-31s are made in London, Ontario.

exnavy would know.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

That is a wild looking beast!

[SAMWolf]

Yeah, It looks like something out of Star Wars. I wonder if Lucas knew about it.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Ping!

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Buffalo

[archy]

This type of thread tends to attract rude, crude, and socially unacceptable un-PC tread head types.

Some of us have also been known to lose tracks to tree stumps while trying to squash bunnyrabbits.

[Ranger]

Thanks. Looks like a great idea.

[VOA]

"Well, buddy," he drawled, "just pull your tank in behind me.....I'm the 82d Airborne,
and this is as far as the bastards are going!"

As Darryl Hammonds says when he does his Chris Matthews
"G-d, that is beautiful!"

[windchime]

Bump!

[exnavy]

actually, I'm not sure where those are made, let me research.

[Eagle Eye]

Oh, yeah, I've seen these babies out on the roads. They are beautifully ugly peice of machinery bumping along hte shoulder of the roads looking for mines and IEDs.

Of course, that view is usually short lived as we pass them by and drive on ahead of them! Nothing like being ahead of the mine clearing equipment to make you apprecaite your next meal just a little bit more.

[SLB]

I sure wish I had a picture of the 11th ACR clearing roads North of Tay Ninh in 1970. They used a M113A1 with two platforms hanging off of the front, one in front of each track. There was a soldier standing on the platform with a handheld mine detector searching for mines as they traveled down the road. This was used where the possibility of mines was low. When they got to an area that was suspicious, they dismounted and continued on foot at a very slow rate. However, the idea of missing a mine while riding about 6 inches above the road surface and having it detonate under the first roadwheel which was only a foot or two away is not a very pleasant prospect.

[patton]

11B2PLGMH, B/3/325

Currently a rocket scientist on FCS