U.S. vehicles destroy Afghan bombs by rolling over them




Spc. Joshua Joe drives a "Husky," a giant vehicle built to find and withstand the blast of a roadside bomb, putting him in the front line of the U.S.-led coalition's battle against the Taliban's most effective weapon in Afghanistan.




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Seventeen U.S. troops fell to improvised explosive devices in a five-day period that began Aug. 27, and the weapons accounted for about 60 percent of the 485 International Security Assistance Force deaths this year through August, according to iCasualties.org, which tracks casualties in the Afghan and Iraqi conflicts. IED's also are a prime cause of casualties among Afghan civilians.

The threat requires specialist IED hunters and specially designed vehicles. The Husky is the lead vehicle in an IED clearance convoy of hulking, bizarre-looking vehicles - with such names as the Buffalo - that seem like creations for a sci-fi movie.

The Husky carries just one person, who's the driver and operator, perched on top of the vehicle in a tiny cab, basically just waiting to drive over any bomb the equipment doesn't detect, and hoping that the machine is strong enough to avert serious injury.



Source: U.S. vehicles destroy Afghan bombs by rolling over them

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