GlobalSecurity.org In the News

USA TODAY January 22, 2007

Signals foil IEDs but also radios

By Tom Vanden Brook

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has launched an urgent effort to develop radio systems immune to the jamming signals that troops use to foil homemade bombs planted by insurgents in Iraq.

The jammers, which block signals that detonate improvised explosive devices (IEDs), have become so powerful they can "cause the loss of all communications" for U.S. troops, a Pentagon solicitation to contractors says. It calls for information on devices that will allow troops to use jammers and radios at the same time. The Pentagon said the information is needed "to support urgent, ongoing initiatives" for jammers.

Jammers have been a lifesaver by disabling IEDs, the leading cause of death of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Bombs have killed at least 1,168 U.S. troops, according to an analysis of Pentagon data by iCasualties.org. The total is probably higher, the website says, because the Pentagon does not include details of each death. The site noted that the highest monthly death toll for IEDs occurred in December, when bombs killed 71 U.S. troops. All told, more than 3,000 U.S. servicemembers have died in Iraq.

Communication has been a historic advantage for the U.S. military, allowing it to send troops where they're needed most and to avoid "friendly fire" casualties. The jammers that protect troops from roadside bombs can keep them from knowing the location of enemies and allies. In close-quarters urban warfare, ensuring communication can be a life-or-death matter.

"It is a nightmare," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a military think tank. "Any part of the spectrum we can use to communicate is part of spectrum that the enemy can use to detonate an IED."

IEDs have killed 20 U.S. troops in Iraq this month, according to iCasualities. Adding 21,500 U.S. troops — as President Bush has announced — would be complicated by poor communication.

"Twice as many combat troops means twice as big a problem," Pike said.

The Pentagon posted the urgent notice on Jan 4. Jammers are a large portion of Pentagon efforts to fight IEDs. In 2006, the Pentagon spent $3.5 billion to counter IEDs, $1.4 billion of that on jammers.

The military has dealt with the communication problem for years. Troops initially kept power to jammers low enough to avoid interfering with communication, Marine Lt. Gen. James Mattis told Congress in 2005. But detonators for the bombs have grown more sophisticated, requiring more powerful jammers.

Christine DeVries, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon's Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization — the military's lead agency in fighting IEDs — said she could not provide details on the urgency of the request.

The Army has ramped up efforts to deal with electronic communication and warfare. Since Jan. 1, each Army battalion headed to combat has been required to have an electronic warfare operator, said Col. Laurie Moe Buckhout, chief of Army electronic warfare. Rendering IEDs harmless by an electronic signal will be one of the operator's responsibilities, Buckhout said.

The Army has put electronic warfare on par with learning to fire a weapon or administer first aid.

Army electronic warfare operators disrupt enemy communication, ensure U.S and coalition troops can talk to one another and prevent the enemy from knowing what friendly forces are doing, Buckhout said. A large portion of their responsibilities will be dealing with IEDs.