| July 27, 2005: Congress, and U.S. Army bureaucrats, responded to email from the troops, and some bad publicity about the IED (roadside bomb) jammer situation, and got thousands of new jammers, each month, sent to Iraq. These included the new âBlueâ version of the Warlock jammer, and a new lightweight (wearable) IED jammer (SLAM-DEP) for the infantry, and other troops on foot patrols. Other models of jammers, like ICE (Improvised Explosive Devices Countermeasures Equipment), were developed and put into the hands of the troops within six months, using new ârapid developmentâ procedures that have upset many Pentagon bureaucrats, but pleased many of the troops. The army is also sending 187 âexpendable robotsâ to help troops deal with IEDs. These âlow costâ robots cost about $35,000 each, which is about a hundred times the cost of the ones troops had improvised using civilian radio controlled hobby vehicles. However, the more expensive robots wonât have their signals jammed by the army jammers (which sometimes happened with the hobby grade gear the troops were using.) |