Inside Defense
Oct. 27, 2009 -- Defense Department officials will soon deploy a new type of sensor to Afghanistan that is capable of tracking insurgent foot traffic over a wide swath of land, a military official said today.
The moves comes as the number of coalition troops killed and wounded by improvised explosive devices is on the rise. Data provided by the Joint IED Defeat Organization shows a sharp spike in IED attacks this summer. In September, 37 coalition personnel were killed and 285 wounded by makeshift bombs, according to a JIEDDO briefing. The numbers were 21 and 66 respectively in September 2008. The year before, nine personnel died and 37 were wounded during that month, the briefing states.
News services reported that eight U.S. troops were killed earlier today from IED attacks.
JIEDDO Director Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz said insurgents in Afghanistan use cruder bombs than those found in Iraq. And they move through the mountainous terrain on foot to plant them, he added.
“The enemy rode to work in Iraq; the enemy walks to work in Afghanistan,” Metz said at a briefing with reporters today.
His organization's new sensor is capable of spotting “dismounts” -- individuals traveling on foot -- over a large area of land and instruct or cue other sensors to take a closer look. Metz said he plans to have the technology fielded by the winter or early spring.
Northrop Grumman makes the Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation Radar (VADER) sensor. On its Web site, the company says the technology provides Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) data and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery to ground commanders.
SAR technology is used to significantly widen the aperture of sensors, enlarging their field of view.
Officials have yet to decide on which platform the VADER sensor would be mounted. “That is still in debate,” Metz said. “We may very well deploy it on a fixed-wing” aircraft, he added. -- Sebastian Sprenger
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