There is Hope in the Fight Against IED’s

December 4, 2009 posted by OldWarrior

Boeing Tests IED Blasting LaserBoeing is testing a laser device which may be helpful to our military ring customers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The laser has been mounted onto the Avenger and has done well in testing so far.

It works by directing a laser beam at the IED which causes a slow burning away of the explosive material in the IED. This will be beneficial to our ground forces for several different reasons.

First and foremost it will give explosive ordinance disposal teams operating in the Middle East a little relief. There are not enough of these teams to meet the demands of disarming IED’s because they are so commonly used. When a unit spots an IED it has to pull back, call EOD, and wait for EOD to arrive and disarm the device. This takes up a lot of valuable time and holds the unit up since they can’t perform their mission until the IED is removed. The laser will save many hours in time and manpower for our troops. This time will free units up to conduct other missions and thus greatly increase effectiveness.


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