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Forces recognise the importance of expanding protection measures

Mar-29-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

Link to Abstract
By Scott R Gourley, Jane's International Defence Review

In concert with the continuing threats of roadside improvised explosive devices (IEDs), suicide drivers, and occasional rocket and mortar attacks, the Mosul mess hall suicide bombing on 21 December 2004, which killed more than 12 US military personnel, was a reminder of the critical importance of broad-spectrum force-protection measures for land-based forces.

The sobering aftermath of that attack witnessed a range of expanded force-protection measures among US forces, from the application of body armour to the accelerated fielding of new defensive weapon systems.

An example of the latter instance can be found exactly one month after the mess hall attack, when joint-venture partners Alliant Techsystems and Textron Systems announced that they had been notified of US Army plans to accelerate fielding of the Matrix remote munitions control system.

Developed for the Project Manager Close Combat Systems and the US Army Armaments, Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), Matrix is described as a portable, battery-operated munitions control system that allows soldiers to identify an appropriate target and select a proper defensive attack from a remote location.

Twenty-five Matrix systems are slated for delivery to US forces in Iraq by June 2005 for initial fielding with the army's 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (the army's 'second' Stryker Brigade Combat Team).

Beyond sandbags
As evidenced by continuing threats around the world, some of the key lessons learned in recent military operations involve the need to protect forward operating bases and other fixed sites.

While sandbags and concertina wire retain their critical roles as initial force-protection measures, the growing frequency of military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) presents planners with unique challenges, resulting in a variety of solutions.

US operations in Iraq provide several examples. In the initial aftermath of combat operations, units used any available materials to implement some level of force protection. These materials ranged from Iraqi concertina/barbed wire to earthen berms and rubble.

As arteries were reopened and services re-established in Baghdad, these early measures were soon supplemented by designs such as 55 gal drums filled with rocks and supporting eight-foot fence pickets. Another US unit used a 300 m line of disabled cars before replacing those with storm water piping 6 m long and 1.5 m in diameter.

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