Signals foil IEDs but also troop radios

Jamming Signals Foil IEDs but Also Troop Radios

Updated 1/23/2007 8:04 AM ET
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has launched an urgent effort to develop radio systems immune to the jamming signals that troops use to foil homemade bombs planted by insurgents in Iraq.

The jammers, which block signals that detonate improvised explosive devices (IEDs), have become so powerful they can "cause the loss of all communications" for U.S. troops, a Pentagon solicitation to contractors says. It calls for information on devices that will allow troops to use jammers and radios at the same time. The Pentagon said the information is needed "to support urgent, ongoing initiatives" for jammers.

Jammers have been a lifesaver by disabling IEDs, the leading cause of death of U.S. troops in Iraq.

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