General Needs Laser Cutter Now

The general in charge of operations for coalition forces in northern Iraq had an interesting technical request during an interview with fellow bloggers this morning (Sept. 24). He had a lot of other things to say, of course, but I thought DT readers would be particularly interested in this little tidbit.

When asked what kind of gear items he needed that he didnt already have, Brig. Gen. Mike Bednarek applauded the money and effort put into devising counter IED technology and getting urgent needs out to the field, but had one simple request.

Ill paraphrase a bit here:

If I could have one thing that could help me right now, it would be some sort of low-power laser cutter that we could mount to a Humvee and as we drive along, it would cut command detonation wires along our route.

This perked my interest and Id like to see if any DT readers have some input here. This idea certainly makes sense, but I wonder if theres anything out there already to meet Bednareks demands, or whether this problem has already been considered and deemed unworkable.

Ive seen that weird IR triggering device that has been recently retrofitted to Humvees the one that looks like a big, flat black square on a pole extending from the front bumper which is used to detonate EFP roadside bombs. But I dont know if theres something out there like the laser cutter Bednarek needs.

Let us know if any of you have heard anything about something like this. Id like to be able to put someone in touch with the general if there is maybe we here at DT can do a little more than debate amongst ourselves. Maybe we can help someone save a few lives in the process

-- Christian