Bombs Still Vex "IED Defeat" Group

The Pentagon assembled its Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization in late 2003 to figure out ways to protect against improvised explosives, spot bombs before they cause harm, and unravel the networks that plant 'em.

Three-and-a-half years later, JIEDDO still needs help. The $6 billion agency has issued a request for proposals that covers just about every element of the bomb-fighting problem, from mitigating against bomb damage to detecting explosives to training what to do when you find an IED.

Most (but certainly not all) of the time, when a government research group issues a "Broad
Agency Announcement," it's to ask for assistance on a specific subject or two. (Here's one from Darpa, for an "Electromagnetic Pulse Tolerant Microwave Receiver Front-End.") But JIEDDO's latest announcement is different, asking for help on just about every aspect of their work:

*Capabilities and tools that integrate and exploit intelligence to contribute to a clearer understanding of enemy personnel, equipment, infrastructure; *

*Tactics/Techniques/Procedures, support mechanisms or other actions in order to forecast specific enemy IED-focused operations directed against US interests...
*

*Capabilities that enable the targeting, interdiction, and elimination of enemy personnel, the associated infrastructure and logistics required for using IEDs as a weapon against military and civilian personnel... *

*A low-cost, low-profile sensor capability that can rapidly and **reliably detect (with a goal to identify) explosives chemical vaporous or aerosolize molecules of the energetic compounds...
*

*A vehicle-mounted system to simultaneously detect and neutralize Command Wire and Pressure Plate triggered IEDs from operationally safe standoff distances... *

*A single-vehicle system capable of detecting and neutralizing [remotely-triggered] IEDs by disrupting or disabling the electronics from a threshold distance of 50 meters and an objective distance of 100 meters...
*

*Lightweight armor
(transparent and opaque) solutions that are significantly lighter than current expedient designs that protect against emerging anti-armor IED threats... *

• A high-quality, comprehensive training program that all units can utilize to address everything associated with Tactical Site
  Exploitation.*

And on and on. You get the idea.

Now, this isn't to say -- as some in Congress have alleged -- that JIEDDO is misspending the $6 billion that it has been allocated. But it is interesting to note that after billions and billions spent, the U.S. military still can't overcome a loose collection of D.I.Y., low-dollar, no-tech weaponeers. That's how vexing the IED problem is.

ALSO:

* Cash Crunch for Pentagon Bomb Squad
* IED Fight = "McNamara Line"?
* Blimps, Bots, Beams Enlisted for IED Fight
* Bomb-Fighters Defend Progress
* Pentagon Bomb Squad Under Fire
* Pentagon Bomb Squad a Dud?