Marines Returning to Iraq Seek High-Tech Equipment
Thu Dec 18,12:46 PM ET Add Technology
By Chelsea Emery
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tiny unmanned surveillance planes, dust-controlling chemicals and troop-tracking systems -- these are just a few of the things members of the U.S. First Marine Expeditionary Force are adding to their wish lists before their second excursion to Iraq (news - web sites).
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The requests flooding into the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, a special unit that identifies or develops new technology for battlefield uses, reflect current conditions in the country as well as soldiers' needs that are still unfilled.
Demands are pouring in now that the Expeditionary Force is scheduled to return to Iraq early next year, a lab representative said. The Marines started returning to the United States after President Bush (news - web sites)'s May declaration that major hostilities had ended.
New requests include calls for devices to identify, jam or detonate improvised explosives. The queries started appearing after reports that Iraqis opposed to the U.S. occupation have stuffed toy cars, Coke cans and animal carcasses with explosives and remotely detonated them when troops passed.
Also high on the list is technology to track individual fighters.
"One of the problems they've had is that they've lost (news - web sites) track of people when they've been evacuated (for medical care)," said Jim Lasswell, who helps develop or procure technology to fulfill requests that come to the lab in Quantico, Virginia. "They want to know where they're going and how they're doing."
The DragonEye unmanned reconnaissance plane has been singled out as one of the most popular (news - web sites) new technologies used in Iraq, and troops are begging for more.
The 5-pound, battery-powered plane is small enough to be carried in a backpack, and can be assembled and launched within 10 minutes.
"They've asked for as many as they can get," Lasswell, a retired Marine colonel, said in a telephone interview, adding that about 25 prototypes had been fielded originally and Marines are asking for as many as 150 new planes.
Dust-abatement chemicals are also popular. Marines say they need at least six more kits to help in places where dust can be deeper than 6 inches (15 cm) and can clog helicopter rotors and other machinery as well as cloud vision.
And almost all lists of requests the lab gets include calls for more body armor, such as the protective plates made by Ceradyne Inc. (Nasdaq:CRDN - news) and Armor Holdings Inc. (NYSE:AH - news)
Also wanted are sorely needed equipment still lacking despite repeated requests.
Blue Force Tracking, a system that allows officers to keep tabs on their troops and identify allies from foes, hasn't been very efficient, said Lasswell.
"There isn't a system that is very good," he said. "We sure would like to have someone come up with something like that -- it could cut down on friendly fire incidents, the fratricide."
Communications equipment that works well over long distances, often called non-line-of-sight or over-the-horizon gear, is also in demand.
"Communications and Blue Force Tracking, so you can know where everyone is so you don't shoot them, and you know if they're missing or delayed, these are very high on the list," Lasswell said. "Security against improvised explosive devices is probably the next-highest request." |
