solution for afghan "road-side bombs"?

[68Hawk]

Most IED's are cellphone based right? With the unlimited resources at the US governments hands you would think they could make something to scramble the call within range of the vehicle. No call gets in no bomb goes off. Or just give all the terrorists a free Verizon plan , I cant get service half the time with them anyway.

We do have systems to scramble every radio signal but our own.  They work really well.  Everyone knows you're in the neighborhood when their cellphone or TV stops working and comes out to watch the parade, cell in hand.

The expletive deleteds have many other ways of detonating their explosives, and command wire is the scariest.  You can't intercept it, and if they hide it right you can't detect it either.  If they hide their location correctly you can't tell where the spotter is, so there's no retribution.

[captain1ma]

give em all a computer, with internet access and a joystick and throttle and give them free Aces high accounts and you'll never hear from them again!!

[63tb]

But if the roads had a "paint" covering, wouldn't it be very difficult for them to place the explosives? Either they dig them in like they do now and wind up marking the spot since they could never re-match the surface (ever try to spot paint a panel on a car?), or they would have to use a much more time consuming, and exposed, method. I'm not saying it would stop the IEDs but at least they wouldn't be under the road.

Who knows, the afghans could wind up with nicer roads than we have! 

63tb

[allaire]

I have some documents that talk about unconventional warfare and what steps you take to disguise emplaced devices.  I also have some documents from 'Nam that talk about how the VC used to plant booby traps and methods they used for disguising them.  It has been said before they would just tunnel under the road from the side or just set up the IEDs in some other method.  Those people are smart when it comes to new ways to cause death and terror.

The military still plays up the benefits of hard wire commo setups since they are damn near impossible to jam and usually very secure.

[Ack-Ack]

Sunfan they actually have out a device that blocks the cell signals, some schools are using them to eliminate kids using them in classes, i don't see why the Military couldn't design a more powerful one that blocks a larger radius then the ones they use in schools

http://www.phonedog.com/2009/03/10/washington-school-purchases-cell-phone-jammer-to-thwart-texting-teens/

There is a similiar system that can be mounted in cars, one such system is credited with saving the life of Pakistan's last military dictator a few years ago.  He was traveling in a limo and was crossing a bridge that had over 2,000 pounds of explosives wired under it with a cell phone acting as the trigger device.  The Pakistani Taliban triggered the device with the cell phone as the Pakistani leader's limo convoy was crossing the bridge.  The bombs didn't detonate until the last of the vehicles in the convey safely crossed the bridge and it later came out this was due to the jamming system that was put in each of the vehicles in the convoy.  It was when the jammers were out of range of the bombs did the signal from the cell phone finally trigger the explosives.  Even though some in the convoy were injured, no one was killed and each vehicle made it across the bridge safely.  The only problem at the time with this jamming device was the short radius of its range.


ack-ack

[danny76]

But you've got to find them first.

Exactly, just imagine how easy they'd be to find if you had already painted them neon?

[Shifty]

But if the roads had a "paint" covering, wouldn't it be very difficult for them to place the explosives? Either they dig them in like they do now and wind up marking the spot since they could never re-match the surface (ever try to spot paint a panel on a car?), or they would have to use a much more time consuming, and exposed, method. I'm not saying it would stop the IEDs but at least they wouldn't be under the road.

Who knows, the afghans could wind up with nicer roads than we have! 

63tb

They plant them under the road and beside the road in dead animals and even in dead people. The one that hit my son was a shaped charge planted on the side of the road. They'll find a way to get their traps set. Instead of painting the roads I'd like to see helicopter and vehicle patrols at night targeting guys carrying picks and shovels. Farmers go to bed at dark, insurgents go to work.

[danny76]

They plant them under the road and beside the road in dead animals and even in dead people. The one that hit my son was a shaped charge planted on the side of the road. They'll find a way to get their traps set. Instead of painting the roads I'd like to see helicopter and vehicle patrols at night targeting guys carrying picks and shovels. Farmers go to bed at dark, insurgents go to work.

Absolutely, and despite there being a degree of flippency in this thread I agree wholeheartedly with what you say, in actual fact there is now footage on youtube of insurgents being specifically targetted by helicopter units at night whilst they are digging in their IED's for the next day. We have sufficient optics and equipment to allow our armed forces in these areas to interdict many of these teams and destroy them prior to them doing harm.

Whilst we are at this, maybe it would not be a bad idea to equip our guys correctly. When lads from my old unit returned from Afghanistan, they had, at one point, needed to fix bayonets. Purely because they were so short of ammunition that they feared they may run out in a small skirmish. to your son, sincerely hope he is ok

[Shifty]

Thanks Danny, he's doing very well and has a great attitude. In fact that's his quote in my signature block. Best to your unit and I hope they get a long rest in the UK before they have to go back. Salute to all the young men and women from all over the world who have served there and to those still carrying the load for the rest of us.

[Twister2]

My main thought would be that the paint would be destroyed the first time vehicles passed over it since it is over soft ground. Then they could just plant devices in the churned up areas.

[1pLUs44]

Why paint?  Please don't take this wrong, but that just sounds downright stupid.

[Swager]

Good catch Tarmac.  It is called CREW Duke.  The company I work for builds them.

http://www.srcinc.com/news/article.aspx?id=824

We just hit a production milestone in May.

We also build Lightweight Counter Mortar Radars (LCMRs), which is the program I work on.

[AKH]

More helicopters.

"In a situation where you have lots of improvised explosive devices, the more you can increase your tactical flexibility by moving people by helicopter, then the more uncertain, more unpredictable your movements become to the enemy.

"Therefore, it is quite patently the case that you could save casualties by doing that."

Army pushes for more helicopters:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8155890.stm

[dedalos]

I love it.  We call them dumb and we come up with ideas like these?  Paint the roads?    How often?  What happens to the paint on dirt roads after a few days of traffic?  Rain? locals messing it up?

No wonder we are still fighting these stupid guys after we declared victory    If we had any brains we would figure out that no country has ever been occupied successfully.  It always ends bad for the occupying force.  If you really think they are all terrorists and the cause of all our problems then nuke the place and get it over with.  But, we all know that is not the case.

And before you geniuses jump on me, no, i did not say there are no terrorists there.  There are.  Probably as many as here.  But calling every one with a different religion or look a terrorist and calling for their death is total BS (not sure why HT tolerates it here).  I don't know of any people that would not fight back any way they can when they see foreign troops on their soil, no matter what the troops call them self's and the locals.  In WWII we called the resistance, but I am sure the other side (you know, the one with the guns and the uniforms) called them something else.

[68Hawk]

Even when we pave the roads, bombs have a way of finding their way in there and dwelling unseen for a long time.  They were finding bombs built into T-walls too. 

Not sure that there's any real solution to a determined insurgency but perseverance and rebuilding a decent country.

<S> SPC Thomas Vandeventer!