Reply #27: Of course, but if you see the thing, you can avoid it

[MADem]

A lot of them are cell phone detonated, or garage door opener activated as well. Some are even buried under just a light coating of sand along the side of the road. But a lot of them are just shoved behind the ubiquitous piles of trash alongside or in the jubs (sewage/drainage ditches). You send the toy car forward, use it to shove the trash aside, and then use yer field glasses to get a good look at what is up ahead. The idea isn't to explode the device, simply find it. If you know anyone who is stuck doing patrols routinely over that way, a good-quality, heavy RC vehicle, one that you can duct tape a flashlight or a mini-camera to, is a thoughtful gift.

This isn't a speculative post; we've been doing this for some time, given the fact that Unka Sam is disinclined to provide timely support to prevent these devices from blowing up our kids.

Here is an article describing the technique better than I can:

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001556.html



Yesterday, I was 'outside the wire,' patrolling with the 2nd Platoon. We came upon a possible IED in the middle of the road, and stopped all traffic to check it out," writes Sgt. Greg Papadatos, of the 69th Infantry Regiment, in a Military.com diary.

A young private in that platoon has one of those radio-controlled toy cars. When they find unidentifiable debris in the road, E.S. sends out his little RC car and rams it. If it's light enough to be moved or knocked over, it's too light to be a bomb, so we can approach it and get rid of it. If it's heavy, we call EOD . At night, they duct tape a flashlight to the car.

The military actually has robots that it uses for such things, but they are larger, slower, higher-tech, and frightfully expensive. Only EOD units have them, and you could wait for hours and hours before they show up with their robot. If 200 units read about this idea, and 50 units actually buy a toy RC car, and it saves just one single life, it would all be worth it.

I've suggested to E.S. that he put some fancy paint and a couple of LED lights on his toy car, demonstrate it to some Army brass at the Pentagon, and sell it to them for $80,000. He won't actually try that, but it's fun to imagine. In the meantime, I've also suggested to some of his chain of command that they put him in for a commendation or a medal for his ingenuity. If he ever finds a real bomb with that toy car, they probably will. (via the Huffington Post)