thedrifter
06-01-07, 06:03 AM
Marines need counter-IED, sniper techs
Published: May 31, 2007 at 3:40 PM
WASHINGTON, May 31 (UPI) -- Warfighters in the U.S. Marine Corps have identified 10 capabilities they lack in Iraq, stymied by a slow procurement process.
"Civilian middle management lacks technical and operational currency" and are risk-averse, Marine briefing charts state.
PowerPoint slides from a cancelled Marine Corps science and technology briefing, obtained by the Project on Government Secrecy, indicate three technological areas where deployed troops need upgrades urgently: persistent surveillance across Anbar province, counter-improvised explosive device systems and protection from snipers.
The briefing charts say that IEDs -- the roadside bombs that cause 70 percent of U.S. casualties -- are being changed from being remotely controlled by cell phones to being detonated by command wires or by the victims, by triggering a pressure place or with a passive infrared. That switch negates the electronic jammers now widely in use in Iraq.
The briefing warns that snipers are being increasingly used against deployed forces as U.S. troops get better at finding and defeating IEDs. It also warns that insurgents may be working on armed unmanned aerial vehicles for use against U.S. troops and bases.
The slides highlight the Marine Corps' 2005 request for mine-resistant vehicles, which was turned down in favor of more up-armored Humvees. The Marine Corps is now purchasing more than 3,000 of the MRAPS, which are heavily armored with a V-shaped hull to deflect blasts.
The briefing says more than 130 urgent requests for specific technologies were made by Marine forces deployed forward between 2006 and 2007, but only 10 percent were fulfilled. The logjam began to break in November 2006, after U.S. Central Command intervened to speed approval of troop requests.
The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force requested more ScanEagle UAVs, which were denied, and the Ground-Based Observation and Surveillance System to monitor the placing of IEDs.
Ellie
Published: May 31, 2007 at 3:40 PM
WASHINGTON, May 31 (UPI) -- Warfighters in the U.S. Marine Corps have identified 10 capabilities they lack in Iraq, stymied by a slow procurement process.
"Civilian middle management lacks technical and operational currency" and are risk-averse, Marine briefing charts state.
PowerPoint slides from a cancelled Marine Corps science and technology briefing, obtained by the Project on Government Secrecy, indicate three technological areas where deployed troops need upgrades urgently: persistent surveillance across Anbar province, counter-improvised explosive device systems and protection from snipers.
The briefing charts say that IEDs -- the roadside bombs that cause 70 percent of U.S. casualties -- are being changed from being remotely controlled by cell phones to being detonated by command wires or by the victims, by triggering a pressure place or with a passive infrared. That switch negates the electronic jammers now widely in use in Iraq.
The briefing warns that snipers are being increasingly used against deployed forces as U.S. troops get better at finding and defeating IEDs. It also warns that insurgents may be working on armed unmanned aerial vehicles for use against U.S. troops and bases.
The slides highlight the Marine Corps' 2005 request for mine-resistant vehicles, which was turned down in favor of more up-armored Humvees. The Marine Corps is now purchasing more than 3,000 of the MRAPS, which are heavily armored with a V-shaped hull to deflect blasts.
The briefing says more than 130 urgent requests for specific technologies were made by Marine forces deployed forward between 2006 and 2007, but only 10 percent were fulfilled. The logjam began to break in November 2006, after U.S. Central Command intervened to speed approval of troop requests.
The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force requested more ScanEagle UAVs, which were denied, and the Ground-Based Observation and Surveillance System to monitor the placing of IEDs.
Ellie