LAT: Explosives make WALKING safer for U.S. troops than riding in armored vehicles

[DeepModem Mom]

Explosives make walking safer than riding in tanks
By Julian E. Barnes, Times Staff Writer
June 21, 2007

BAGHDAD -- U.S. soldiers working the streets of the capital fear one Iraqi weapon more than others -- copper-plated explosives that can penetrate armor and have proven devastating to Humvees and are even capable of severely damaging tanks.

The power of what the military calls EFPs, for explosively formed penetrators or projectiles, to spray molten metal balls that punch through the armor on vehicles has some American soldiers rethinking their tactics. Some are asking if the U.S. should to give up its reliance on constant improvements to vehicle defenses.

Instead, some soldiers think, it is time to leave the armor behind and get out and walk.

"In our area, the biggest threat for us is EFPs. When you are in the vehicles, you are a big target," said Staff Sgt. Cavin Moskwa, 33, of Hawaii, who patrols the Zaphraniya neighborhood with the Bravo battery of the 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery. "But when you are dismounted ... you are a lot safer."

In the last three days, 15 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq, nine of them in two powerful roadside bomb blasts. The military does not release the kind of weapon used in improvised explosive attacks, but the deadly nature of the two attacks suggests EFPs possibly were used in both....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-walk22jun22,0,952300.story?coll=la-home-center

[cherokeeprogressive]

1. Yeah. Walk past that minivan while the neighborhood jihadi holds his cellphone out the window...

I'll buy that for a dollar.

[Strelnikov_]

2. Looks relatively simple to me

Seems experienced Sunni bomb makers could fabricate these up fairly easily. Especially if the copper plate is smuggled in from, say, Saudi Arabia. The rest of the bomb is just a pipe and C4, a big pipe bomb.

A simple weapon that is really only effective in built up areas, which is why maneuver warfare was developed around the concept of staying out of built up areas. Occupation is a whole different animal.

Maybe Iran is supplying them like they seem to be pumping. However, Juan Cole is dubious that Shia Iran would be supplying Sunni insurgents, and he has pointed out that the vast majority of US casualties are in Sunni areas. I trust Juan Cole more than our compromised military leadership at this point.

From the wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosively_formed_penetrator

Use in improvised explosive devices

EFPs have been used in improvised explosive devices against armoured cars, for example in the 1989 assassination of the German banker Alfred Herrhausen (attributed<5> to the Red Army Faction), and by the Hezbollah in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. A recent development is their widespread introduction in IEDs by insurgents in Iraq<6>.

The charges are generally cylindrical, fabricated from commonly available metal pipe, with the forward end closed by a concave copper or steel disk-shaped liner to create a shaped charge. Explosive is loaded behind the metal liner to fill the pipe. Upon detonation, the explosive projects the liner to form a projectile at a velocity well over 1 km/s, depending on the design and type of explosive used.

Often mounted on crash barriers at window level, they are placed along roadsides at choke points where vehicles must slow down, such as intersections and junctions. This gives the operator time to judge the moment to fire, when the vehicle is moving more slowly<7>.

Detonation is controlled by cable, radio control (RC), or remote arming with passive IR (PIR) trigger. EFPs can be deployed singly, in pairs, or in arrays, depending on the tactical situation.

[cherokeeprogressive]

3. Wow. I wouldn't have had any idea how to construct such a device

if you hadn't told me where to find instructions and shown me pictures as well. Thanks.