Colombian and Swiss boffins say they have developed a cunning electromagnetic device which can make landmines or terrorist bombs explode from a distance.
Félix Vega and Nicolas Mora, doctoral students at the école polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, developed the bomb-triggering device as part of their doctoral theses. It works by using powerful radio waves to induce currents in the heating filaments within electrically-actuated detonators, so causing them to go off without benefit of any energy from the mine or device’s firing system.
Well, that’s a pretty interesting approach to counter-mine tactics. Of course, the problem is, US troops tend to be carrying a crapload of explosive devices with them when they move. The challenge becomes, “how do we use RF energy to detonate mines and IEDs without setting off our own weapons?”
Maybe LT Rusty can show up and school us on HERO (Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance).
via Gadget makes bombs, mines go off ‘on average’ 20m away • The Register.
By the way, the article discusses the use of EA-6B Prowlers in the anti-IED role. When I asked a friend in the Prowler community about that mission (several months ago) he clammed right the hell up. There are some things they just don’t wanna talk about.
Via War News Updates
They might not talk about it, but we had plenty of Prowler missions flying ISO our operations. Until they cut back by a squadron.
I can see where this could have unintended bad side effects.
For road-bound IEDs, one could have a robot that rolls out ahead of the convoy to pre-explode ordinance, I would assume. If foot patrols had RC pilots in walk-alongs….
Check AF Blues for a funny string of comics on a pilot trying out RC….
http://www.afblues.com/wordpress/2011/01/14/were-all-a-little-mad/